Less than 72 hours after they received a complaint from a woman living Uttan near Bhayandar, that Rs 6.20 lakh had been siphoned off from her bank account by fraudsters, the cyber cell attached to the Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar (MBVV) police managed to make a reversal of Rs 3.56 lakh.
After receiving a call from the fraudster posing as a customer care executive working in the credit card wing of her bank, the complainant asked her to download an application on her mobile phone which would facilitate an increase in reward points on her card. Unaware that the application was a software which would grant access to crucial banking details in her phone, the complainant downloaded the app. Minutes later, the fraudsters siphoned off Rs 6.20 lakh from her fixed deposits.
Victim alert cyber cell
Not wasting any time, she immediately alerted the cyber cell and registered her complaint on 16, December. The cyber cell team led by API Swapnil Wavhal under the guidance of police inspector Sujitkumar Gunjkar swung into action and managed to freeze a part of the siphoned off amount and reversed Rs 3.56 lakh by establishing contact with the bank in which the fraudsters had parked the money.
The remaining amount had already been transferred to an account of a bank having its branch in Jharkhand, police said.
Authorities caution about dealing with unknown callers
With the current recoveries, the total figures have soared to over Rs.1.50 crore in less than a year. Stressing on the need to be careful while dealing with unknown callers/senders and to lodge complaint as soon as possible (Golden Hour), cyber cell officials said that people can directly approach or call the cybercrime cell on 1930 even email at www.cybercrime.gov.in for reporting online frauds.
