Navi Mumbai: Trader loses Rs 17.37 lakh to cyber fraudster without sharing any details

A 51-year-old businessman at APMC in Vashi lost Rs 17.37 lakhs to a cyber fraudster without even sharing any details. The businessman’s mobile number was blocked for an hour and the illegal transactions were made with his two bank accounts, said police.

As per the complainant, on June 16 afternoon, he received a message that his SIM card has been blocked as per his request. He tried to make a call but could not do as the number was already blocked by the service provider. He immediately approached the service centre of the SIM to know the reason.

Police said that he was informed that the SIM was blocked after they received a request that the card was stolen. Following a suggestion by the service centre, he provided fresh KYC to reactivate the card. After around two hours, his number was activated.

However, when he called a toll-free number to know the bank statement of two current and savings accounts. He was shocked that the very low balance was reflected.

As per the complainant, between 1.12 pm and 2.13 pm on June 16, multiple transactions were made and a total of Rs 17.37 lakhs was transferred to different bank accounts. “As per the complainant, transactions from Rs 2 lakhs to Rs 6 lakhs were made when the SIM card was blocked,” said an official from APMC police station.

The complainant realised the fraud and approached the APMC police and registered a complaint. APMC police registered an FIR against an unknown person under section 420 of IPC and sections 66 C and 66 D of the IT Act and started the investigation.

Published on: Monday, June 20, 2022, 07:24 PM IST