Culprits block victim’s SIM card to stop transaction alert from reaching him.
If your mobile phone remains off the network for several hours, then beware! This could well be a phishing fraud by cyber fraudsters.
A 74-year-old businessman from Nagpada fell prey to this modus operandi and lost Rs5.70 lakh from his bank account. The Pydhonie police are investigating the case.
In January, the victim had received a phishing email and provided all his bank details in it. A day before the bank transaction, the fraudsters approached a Mumbra-based service provider gallery and got the businessman’s mobile phone number closed saying that the SIM card got damaged and they wanted a new card. This was done to ensure that the victim does not get alert messages from the bank.
According to police inspector Avinash Shingte of Pydhonie police station, on January 6, Salehbhai Nalwala’s mobile phone went off the network. “He thought it was just a network issue and didn’t suspect anything foul. Next day, he got a phone call from the bank at his office informing him that Rs5.70 lakh has been transferred from his account,” said Shingte.
A baffled Nalwala then approached the bank’s Mohammad Ali Road branch and learnt that the money was transferred to three separate private bank accounts. He then approached the Pydhonie police and a complaint was lodged in this regard on January 29.
“We asked Nalwala whether he had shared his login ID and account details with anyone. He said that on January 1, he had received an email and on opening it the bank’s webpage got opened. The email asked for his account details and login ID for an update. Nalwala filled in all his details. This is a clear case of phishing fraud,” said Shingte.
He added that investigations have also revealed that the fraudsters got the SIM card of the victim blocked from a gallery in Mumbra.
“The accused persons, who were armed with all details of the victim, had told the gallery that the SIM card had got damaged and they wanted a new card. We have also learnt that the fraudsters have given the new card to someone else. We are also getting details of those accounts in which the money was transferred,” informed Shingte.
The Pydhonie police have registered a case under sections 419 (punishment for cheating by personation) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Sections 66A (sending offensive, annoying or threatening email, SMS or MMS) and 66B (punishment for dishonestly receiving stolen computer resource or communication device) of the Information Technology Act against unknown person(s).
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