Mumbai: Retired banker loses Rs 7.5 lakh to cyber fraud

An 81-year-old retired private banker was duped by an unidentified accused to the tune of ₹7.5 lakh under the pretext of updating the KYC details, failing which his SIM card will be blocked. A case of cheating and impersonation has been lodged at Bhoiwada police station and further probe is underway.

According to police sources, the complainant, a Dadar rsaident, had received a message on his mobile phone from an unknown number on January 17, stating that his SIM will be blocked if the KYC details are not updated. Subsequently, the retired banker contacted the number given in the message, who identified himself as the customer care executive. He asked the octogenarian to download a screen sharing application and sought a different number to instruct the senior for further steps.

The caller asked the complainant to make a payment of ₹10 and got all the banking details, following which the accused siphoned ₹7,52,000 from the retired banker's account in a series of transactions. When the senior citizen realised the unauthorised transactions, he alerted the private bank and approached Bhoiwada Police, which registered a case of cheating and impersonation under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act. While no arrests have been made, a police probe is underway.

A senior Cyber police official said that they have time and again asked the citizens not to divulge private bank details with anybody, let alone strangers, however, people fail to implement the same.