No OTP, no alert, still ₹90,900 debited: How Bengaluru woman lost her money in minutes

The victim, Ritu Maheshwari, discovered that three debits of ₹30,300 each had been made between 3.24 am and 4.03 am while she was asleep.

A Bengaluru woman has alleged that a private sector bank allowed three unauthorised transactions worth ₹90,900 from her account in the early hours of October 1, despite her not approving them.

In her complaint, the woman said she neither approved the payments nor shared any OTP. (Image-Pexels)

The victim, Ritu Maheshwari, discovered that three debits of ₹30,300 each had been made between 3.24 am and 4.03 am while she was asleep. In her complaint, she said she neither approved the payments nor shared any one-time passwords (OTPs) or authentication codes, as per a report by Bangalore Mirror.

Despite this, the bank reportedly denied liability, claiming that the transactions were valid as OTPs had been used. Maheshwari, however, insists she had no involvement and suspects a breach in the bank’s security system.

Following her complaint, the Mico Layout Police registered a First Information Report (FIR) on October 3, 2025, under Sections 66(C) and 66(D) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, which deal with identity theft and cheating by impersonation using computer resources. The complaint mentions that the unauthorised debits were made through a UPI-based payment platform.

A bank official declined to comment on the matter, saying queries must be directed to the marketing team via email. The bank has not yet responded to the email query.

Speaking to Bangalore Mirror, Maheshwari said she immediately alerted the bank at 4.37 am on October 1, and a complaint was logged by 7.20 am. She pointed out that, according to an automated email received from the bank at 4.09 am, the bank had already detected suspicious activity and blocked her card.

As advised by the bank, Maheshwari contacted the National Cyber Crime Helpline (1930) and registered a cybercrime complaint on the same day before filing the FIR. She noted that the issue was reported within hours of the incident, well inside the Reserve Bank of India’s three-day window for reporting fraudulent transactions.

Maheshwari also claimed the bank has yet to explain how the transactions were authorised without any confirmation from her end.