Chandigarh sees one fraudulent bank withdrawal every day
The past three months, starting August, have been 130 cases, around 45% of the cases. The lowest number of cases was in January at 10 and since then there has been a steady increase
Even as the city has an educated pedigree to boast of, it has still seen one fraudulent cash withdrawal from bank accounts a day this year with 297 residents losing their hard-earned money to such tricksters to date (around 290 days). The past three months, starting August, have been 130 cases, around 45% of the cases. The lowest number of cases was in January at 10 and since then there has been a steady increase.
Cyber experts see a direct correlation between the increase in number of cases over the course of this year to the increase in cashless transactions post demonetisation. Fraudsters posing as bank executives target gullible residents. “There has been a steady increase in the cases to the fraudulent withdrawal on month on month basis. People are still not aware what to share and what not is one of the prime reasons for most of the cyber frauds,” said Rashmi Yadav, DSP Cyber cell.
“No bank asks for your account details so one should not share any personal information on the phone” added Yadav.
How does it work
The tricksters call up randomly posing as employees of the bank and ask residents about account details. They then use the same to generate one time password (OTP) and withdraw money from the account even when the victim is in possession of the credit card. The callers either say that the Aadhaar card has to be linked or they claim upgrade of the safety feature of the account.
Now, cyber desk in each police station
Considering the increase in the complaints, the UT administration has decided to have a cyber desk in each police station. All police stations have also been directed to take complaints relating to fraudulent withdrawals. As of now, such a complaint is to be filed with the police headquarter in Sector 9, Chandigarh and most police stations in city turning away the ATM withdrawal complainants.
The department, on its part, maintains that there was a need to increase manpower in cyber cells. As of now, the cell has 21 police personnel, including women cops, and is headed by a DSP-rank officer. The proposal od setting up a cyber police station is hanging fire.
RECENT CASES:
October 17 - Caller said need to link Aadhaar with bank account
Police registered a case on complaint of a retired government employee RK Taneja, of Sector 7, Chandigarh who lost an amount of Rs 49,977 that were fraudulently withdrawn from his account. Taneja had got a call in July and the caller identified him as the employee of the bank in which he had account. The accused sought his bank details on the pretext of linking his Aadhaar card with the bank account. The accused had used the information to generate One Time Password (OTP) which Taneja received on his mobile phone and gullible Taneja shared the details with the caller who used the same to withdraw the money from the account.
October 1 - Haryana guv’s grandson also duped
Rohan Pratap Singh who is grandson of Haryana governor Kaptan Singh Solanki had lost Rs 50,000 to one such trickster by accidently sharing one-time password (OTP) that he received on his mobile phone. Rohan in his complaint told the police said that he had received a call on September 29, in which the person claimed to be a bank executive and sought his account details. Rohan shared the one-time password (OTP) that he received on his mobile phone.
August 16 - Sector-41 teacher duped; no idea who shared OPT
Manish Kalia, a teacher who runs as private coaching institute in Sector 41, Chandigarh, alleged that on the intervening night of August 15-16, an amount of Rs 1.6 lakh was withdrawn through fraudulent transactions, even when he did not share his OTP with anyone.
He added, “Even when government is talking of cashless transactions such these incidents discourage the people.”