A 32-year-old man, working as a security guard for the former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, lost Rs. 8,200 to a cyber-fraud who posed as a bank executive offering a loan.
The incident happened on July 13 when the man got a random call from an unknown number who claimed to be a banking executive offering a loan. According to Bandra Police, where the case has been registered, the security guard was in dire need of money for a personal reason which led to him accepting the offer without authentication.
“The fraudster claimed to be from Kotak Mahindra bank and offered him the loan amount the victim needed. However, they put on a condition in the name of ‘bank formality’ and asked him to send his credit card details,” said Rajesh Devare, Senior Police Inspector of Bandra Police.
Falling prey to the fraudster, the victim sent him the asked details out of which a One Time Password (OTP) was created and a number of Rs. 18,200 was debited from his account.
The victim still didn’t realize the fraud until the next day, he got a call from the same number. “They called him back and asked for an additional Rs. 10,000 as a ‘processing fee’ to pass the loan amount. This is when he realized he had been duped,” said the official.
The security guard then, on July 14 approached the police station and raised a complaint. “We are currently finding out details using the bank account details to which the money was transferred. Such cases happen frequently these days, we are trying to trace the fraudster and ways to get the money back,” the official concluded.
