Rly loco pilot duped of Rs 6.4 lakh in SoBo KYC to continue SIM: Airoli resident loses Rs 1.55 lakh
A 56-year-old man was duped to the tune of Rs 6.39 lakh on the pretext of filling out a KYC form of a bank in south Mumbai. A case has been registered at the JJ Marg Police station, wherein the accused has been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act. Investigation is underway.
According to police sources, the incident occurred on September 22, when the complainant, a loco pilot with the railways, received a series of messages from an unknown number, claiming that his account with a private bank had been suspended due to incomplete KYC. To activate, the user was asked to click on the given link. When the complainant clicked on the link and entered his details, phone number and an OTP.
Soon, the complainant received a call from a man, who claimed to be a service agent of the bank and asked him to share the OTP to complete the KYC procedure. Believing the caller, the complainant shared over 19 OTPs while the call was still on, unaware that money was being debited from his account.
Hours later, the complainant received a call from the bank's customer care, asking if he had made any recent transactions, as their system was flagged off by suspicious activity, to which the complainant denied. At night, when he checked his text messages, the complainant realised that the unidentified caller had kept him busy and wired off Rs 6.39 lakh from his savings, recurring and fixed deposit accounts.
Having realised that he was duped, the victim immediately approached the JJ Marg Police and lodged a complaint. Acting on the complaint, an FIR was registered for cheating and impersonation. While the police have written to the bank's nodal officer, the investigation to nab the accused is underway.
A 51-year-old Airoli resident was duped of Rs 1.55 lakh after he installed an app, as advised by a caller for KYC update to continue his SIM card. However, after following the steps as asked by the caller, money was withdrawn from his bank account in eight transactions.
Praveen Salunke, who works at the civic office in Sanpada, received a call on September 27. The police said the caller asked him to update his KYC immediately, else his Jio SIM card would be blocked. The caller also asked him to download jiokycanydesk from the Play Store.
On installing the app, Salunke saw a password which he shared with the fraudster. He was then directed to follow a few steps. “At the end, he was asked to pay Rs 10 as KYC update charge for which he filled in his debit card number, CVV and other details. He received an OTP that he filled and Rs 10 was deducted from his bank account,” said a police official.
However, he again received an OTP that raised suspicion and he discussed it with one of his friends. “His friend suggested that it could be a fraud and that he should immediately block the card. By the time he blocked the card, eight illegal transactions had already been made,” said the official, adding that a total of Rs 1,55,998 was transferred.
When Salunke called back the number of the customer care executive, it was not available. The next day, he approached the Turbhe police station and registered a case against the unknown person. Turbhe police registered a case under section 420 of IPC and 66 (d) of the IT Act.