A timely complaint and swift action by Kandivali police helped a 58-year-old man retrieve Rs 2.65 lakh he lost to cyber fraud.
On Friday night, the victim Mahesh Bhatia, a businessman from Kandivali (W), went online in search of the customer care number of a popular e-commerce giant, which turned out to be that of a fraudster, said police.
Once contacted, the fraudster lured Bhatia into the trap and made him reveal all his banking details, but the complainant only realised his mistake when he started receiving multiple transaction alerts totalling Rs 4.56 lakh. Without further delay, Bhatia approached Kandivali police with his complaint.
At midnight, the police contacted the bank officials and froze the accounts in which the money had been deposited. On Sunday, the money was credited back to the victim’s account, said police.
Police inspector Vijay Kandalgaonkar realised the urgency and immediately started contacting nodal officers of the bank to freeze the account in which the money had been transferred. The fraudsters transferred the money to five different accounts.
Police sub-inspector Shriram Ghodake of crime branch unit 9 helped the police in the investigation.
By the time the entire process could be completed, the accused had already withdrawn Rs 1.90 lakh. However, the police managed to save the rest of the money.
“People should always make sure to use secure sites and trusted payments gateways during online transactions. If they fell prey to cyber frauds, they should immediately approach police within the first two hours, which is called golden hours, there is always a chance to freeze the accounts, stop further transactions and recovery as well,” said Kandalgaonkar.