A 40-year-old woman from Panvel lost Rs 7 lakh from her two credit cards to a cyber fraudster while applying for a new credit card. The victim used an android phone sent by the cyber fraudster to complete the procedure. The mobile was already having two apps installed that gave access to her existing credit card credentials to a cyber fraudster.
On January 17, 2023, the cyber fraudster offered the victim and complainant a credit card that would give free membership to a Mumbai-based sports club. The complainant agreed to apply for the card.
Fraudster claimed to be a bank employee
Saurabh Sharma claimed himself as an employee of the bank and asked the complainant to use an android phone to activate the credit card. Since the complainant was using an iPhone, Sharma offered a free android phone being a premier customer. He said that after using the phone activation, she can use the phone further.
Meanwhile, he sent a link to get details like Aadhar and PAN numbers that the complainant provided with the help of one of her employees.
The victim received a free android phone
The same day, a phone was delivered to the home address of the victim and Sharma informed her over the phone about the courier sent to her. He asked him to insert the sim card she has been using in the iPhone to complete the process. She followed the instructions and completed the procedure. The Android phone had two pre-installed apps—DOT Secure and secur Envoy Authenticatator.
However, the same evening, she received messages of purchases made from her two credit cards in a branded jewellery shop in Bangalore. While one card was used to make a payment of Rs 4.5 lakh and another was for Rs 2.5 lakh. The next day, she approached both banks and got details about the transactions.
Realising that she was cheated, she registered a complaint. The Khandeshwar police registered a case under sections 419 and 420 of IPC and 66 (C) of the IT Act and started an investigation.
According to Cyber Crime Cell under Crime Branch of mumbai police , the most common form of online frauds are related to banks, online commerce platforms where fraudsters, posing as bank /platform officials, convince the victim to share OTP, KYC updates and sometimes send the links to be clicked to access bank accounts.
“People should know that no bank or institution is authorised to demand for bank details or PIN numbers. Unfortunately, educated people are falling prey to online frauds and losing lakhs of rupees,” explained DCP Cyber Crime , Balsingh Rajput.
