Not only naive and illiterate people but also educated and tech-savvy professionals are falling prey to the evil designs of cyber-criminals. Recently, a 67-year-old doctor was duped of Rs 65,000 by cyber-fraudsters under the pretext of unblocking his bank account.
In his statement to the police, the doctor said that he received an SMS on his mobile phone informing him that his account in a reputed nationalized bank had been blocked. The SMS was supported by a link that contained a form seeking personal details and a one-time password (OTP).
The doctor filled and submitted the form. Soon, Rs 25,000 was deducted from his bank account. The fraudsters did not stop there, the next time they called up the doctor by posing as bank executives and assured him of a refund for the wrongly deducted amount. The doctor complied with instructions and lost another Rs 40,000 through fraudulent withdrawals from ATM’s. Realizing he was duped, the doctor registered a complaint with the Naya Nagar police.
The police have been appealing to people to refrain from conducting any type of financial transactions with strangers or responding to unsolicited links. Meanwhile, an offence under section 420 of the IPC has been registered against the unidentified crooks. Further investigations were underway.
