Online KYC fraud: FCI officer duped of Rs 6.7L

In this smart online world, it’s better to become vigilant and avoid sharing personal information or blindly follow instructions doled out by dubious callers. A 56-year-old senior official attached with the Food Corporation of India (FCI) learnt it the hard way, after he became the latest victim of a phishing scam.

Online fraudsters hacked into his e-wallet account and siphoned of more than Rs 6.69 lakh under the guise of completing the Know Your Customer (KYC) process. In his complaint to the Mira Road police, the official stated that he received a phone call from an unidentified caller who pretended to be a customer care employee of a popular ecommerce payment system, Paytm, and asked him to complete the mandated KYC process in order to continue using services.

After a brief conversation, the fake caller sent a link and asked him to click on that and complete the process by making an online payment of Rs 7. After clicking on the link and filling the KYC form, followed by the payment, the complainant got the shock of his life as Rs 6,69,898 was immediately siphoned of via multiple transactions from his bank account, which was linked with the mobile wallet.

After receiving numerous such complaints, Paytm had recently taken to social media to plead users to maintain caution and not fall for fake calls, scam messages and emails from fraudsters seeking KYC and pretending to be company officials. A case under section 420 of IPC and 66D of the Information Technology (amended) Act has been registered at the Mira Road police station against unidentified fraudsters.