Scam alert: Mumbai woman loses lakhs in a week
What's the story
Mumbai Police are on the lookout for a man who has duped a woman of Rs. 6.97L about a fortnight ago. The man, posing as a bank official, reportedly called her 28 times asking for her PIN and OTPs to transfer money from her account to his. She didn't sense anything was amiss till she visited the bank to update her passbook, said cops.
Fraud
First call on May 17; managed to get PIN, card-number
Tasnim Modak (40) narrated that the 'bank manager' called her for the first time on May 17. He had asked for her PIN to unlock her debit card that was blocked for some technical reasons. After successfully getting it, he managed to scoop out other details needed to transfer money, like card and account numbers. However, when it came to the OTP, he stumbled.
Details
He called her 28 times for OTPs, still no suspicion
He called her 28 times for OTPs and didn't fail a single time to receive it. This way, he robbed Modak of Rs. 6.97L, leaving only Rs. 53,000 at her disposal. Modak, a resident of Sector 23 in Nerul (Navi Mumbai), had taken an education loan of Rs. 10L for her son. Of that, Rs. 7.5L was there in her account before the theft.
Realization
She went through her updated passbook, got the shock!
His calls stopped on May 23, a week later. Interestingly, throughout the period, she couldn't smell anything fishy, even though all the transaction alerts were sent to her mobile. Upon visiting her bank recently, she realized what had happened. When she went through her updated passbook, she got the shock of her life. Bank officials confirmed that her money was withdrawn through online transactions.
Probe on
Cyber experts helping police trace the culprit
Further, the bank officials advised her to lodge an FIR, which she did yesterday. BN Awti, inspector, Nerul police station, said a case under IPC Sections 420 and 170 and Section 66C and D of the IT Act have been registered. Cyber experts are also helping them trace the culprit.