A doctor in south Mumbai lost Rs 80,000 in the process of trying to pay her phone bill, having fallen prey to a cyber crime. By downloading an app, the senior citizen unwittingly granted remote access of her phone to the fraudsters. A case of cheating has been registered at the Malabar Hill police station and the unidentified accused have been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act.
The incident occurred on June 2, when the complainant logged in to pay her telephone bill online. When she typed in a search query for the website, she was directed to a site, which asked her to enter her telephone number along with credit/debit card details in order to process the payment. Within minutes, the doctor received a phone call from a man posing as a bank official, who enquired if she had used any credit card or had a PayTM account, which she denied.
The imposter, 'Amit', told her, to keep her account safe, the senior would have to download a mobile application and she agreed. As soon as she had dowloaded the app, she began receiving a number of phone calls. Then Amit called her once again and asked her not to worry, the calls were 'normal' and were to ensure her account security was foolproof. While he kept her engaged in small talk, she received several text messages. Only after hanging up, she realised that Rs 80,000 had been siphoned from her account in a series of transactions.
A cyber expert explained that fraudsters could have gained remote access to the victim's phone through the mobile app, enabling them to receive One-Time Passwords (OTPs) and other information. "Once the victim had entered her card details along with the CVV number, all that the fraudsters had to do was get the OTPs. But this is possible only when the user shares a partner ID, which allows the remote access," said the expert.
The senior citizen immediately approached police and lodged a complaint against the imposter 'Amit', who had cheated her out of Rs 80,000. Police booked him under relevant sections of the IPC and IT Act.