Mumbai: Cyber crooks are devising new ways to siphon-off money from bank accounts of their targets. A 35-year-old businessman who runs a telecom shop in Mira Road lost more than Rs.1.37 lakh after receiving blank calls from an unidentified fraudster.
Notably, the fraudster didn't ask him about any one-time passwords (OTP’s) but yet managed to empty two bank accounts by conducting 34 fraudulent transfer transactions within a few hours. In his statement to the police, the complainant-Sunilkumar Kanojiya said that he runs Hariom Telecom in the Latif Park area of Mira Road which offers services like online money transfers and sale of sim cards.
Kanojiya received repeated blank and missed calls on his cell phone. When he picked up the ring or responded by calling back on the number nobody spoke from the other side. A few hours later when Kanojiya tried to transfer money for a customer, he was shocked to learn that the balance in the mobile application was reduced from Rs.1,37,535 to just Rs.131.
The fraudsters had apparently taken control over his phone to siphon-off Rs. 1,37,404 by diverting the calls and changing the mobile personal identification number (MPIN)- a unique 4- or 6-digit authentication passcode which needs to be entered before transacting on banking apps.
Kanojiya immediately reported the matter on the National Cyber Crime Portal and later registered a complaint at the Mira Road police station. It is suspected that the fraudsters may have used the SIM swap technique as the victim did not divulge any banking related information and the fraud was executed just through calls.
Meanwhile an offence under the relevant sections of the IPC and Information Technology Act was registered against the cyber crook. Further investigations were under way.
