Retd IIT-M professor cheated on pretext of unfreezing bank a/c

An 85-year-old retired IIT Madras professor was duped by a cyber fraudster on the pretext of unfreezing his bank account. The scamster tricked the octogenarian into sharing his banking details, and siphoned off Rs 2.95 lakh in a series of transactions.

According to the police, the incident occurred on Tuesday evening at around 5pm when the complainant, a pensioner of IIT Madras, received a call from a man, who identified himself as a private bank employee. He informed the elderly that his bank account has been frozen.

To unfreeze the account, the caller asked him to share bank details like account number, IFSC Code, debit card number along with the CVV.

When he queried the necessity of all these details, the caller told that this is the bank's procedure. Since the man used the account for daily expenses, he panicked and fell prey to the con. He not only shared all the details sought by the caller but also gave the OTPs received on his mobile number.

The very next moment the professor started receiving back-to-back messages of money getting deducted from his account. Frantically, he contacted the bank officials, who informed that his internet banking ID and password were reset. Also, the mobile number of banking information was changed without his

authorisation and the forthcoming OTPs were being sent on that updated mobile number.

Realising that he had been duped, the professor approached the Powai police and lodged a complaint, following which a case was registered against the unidentified accused under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act.

In the meantime, the woman, who runs a nail spa salon, recalled that she visited Payal for an learning art course between 2009 and 2011 once. But soon discontinued the classes as she didn’t like their teaching style.

Subsequently, the woman checked the ‘cop’s’ number on a caller ID app and came across the name which was familiar to a person related to Singh. Suspicious about the call from the ‘cop’, she called an old associate of Singh, only to realise that the name in the caller ID was indeed an acquaintance of Singh and the accused woman had impersonated as the police official.

On April 27, the woman approached the Dahisar police and lodged a complaint, acting on which a case was registered under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.

The unidentified caller cheated the elderly on the pretext of unfreezing his bank account