Gurugram On November 19, Satish Bhalla, 78, a retired government official residing in Sector 17 A, received a text message on his phone from an unidentified number, informing that his e-wallet account would be blocked if he did not complete the Know Your Customer (KYC) process.
“I panicked and dialled the number mentioned in the text message and got in touch with one Rahul, who identified himself as an executive of the e-wallet company. He told me that the KYC verification could be done over the phone and asked me to download an application on my mobile phone. He asked me to follow some basic instructions ‘log out of the app, log in again-,” he said.
Bhalla said that as a final step, he was ‘instructed’ to conduct a transaction of ₹10 from his credit card into his e-wallet. “He asked me to repeat the transaction of ₹10 just to check if the KYC had been updated. I thought it was an unusual request, but he said the amount would be refunded. Within 10 minutes of the phone call, ₹4.11 lakh was withdrawn from my savings bank account by fraudsters and online shopping worth Rs 83,000 was done using my credit card,” he said.
Bhalla deleted the application and immediately got in touch with the Cyber Crime police. He is among several others in the city, who have been conned through ‘KYC fraud’ or what is being colloquially called ‘the ₹10 fraud’ among the investigators. Last week, the manager of a mall near Sirhaul border was duped of ₹1.85 lakh in a similar manner. Police have registered an FIR in both the cases, but no arrest has been made.
{{/usCountry}}Bhalla deleted the application and immediately got in touch with the Cyber Crime police. He is among several others in the city, who have been conned through ‘KYC fraud’ or what is being colloquially called ‘the ₹10 fraud’ among the investigators. Last week, the manager of a mall near Sirhaul border was duped of ₹1.85 lakh in a similar manner. Police have registered an FIR in both the cases, but no arrest has been made.
{{/usCountry}}According to data from the Cyber Crime police station, between September 1 and December 3, the police received at least 238 complaints (60 in September, 82 in October and 96 since then) of fraud through e-wallets and five FIRs have been registered after investigation, since October 18.
MODUS OPERANDI
Officials of the Cyber Crime cell said that in at least six cases reported in the city this month, the fraudsters had used a similar modus operandi, by sending KYC update messages to unsuspecting people.
An investigator with the Cyber Crime cell, requesting anonymity, said that after establishing contact, the caller creates insecurity in the victims’ mind about the impending closure of the account if the KYC is not updated.
“The victim is sent a link over a text and asked to download an application (a .apk file or tech support apps), which gives con men access to a person’s phone screen though a remote desktop software tool. The victim is then asked to conduct a transaction of ₹1, 5 or 10 to check if the KYC has been updated. The motive behind this transaction is to get the OTP. Once they read the OTP through the software, they use the bank details and PIN access to withdraw money from the victim’s bank accounts,” the official said.
Police said the con men then switch off their mobile phones. On Thursday, another case was registered at Cyber Crime police station after a resident of Jyoti Park alleged that ₹54, 775 was siphoned off from her account on the pretext of updating her KYC.
In the police complaint, she said, “I got a text message saying that KYC had expired. When I called on the number mentioned, I was asked to download ‘Team Viewer or Quick Support’ application and then add ₹10 in the gift voucher category. In 10 minutes, money was withdrawn from my account.”
CHALLENGES
Investigators said that they face certain difficulties in tracing such cases. “A lot of these scams are conducted from conflict areas of West Bengal and Jharkhand. So, geographically, it is a challenge to trace criminals,” said Sandeep, an investigator with the Cyber Crime branch.
“Another reason is the challenge in following up with digital evidence. After gaining remote access to the e-wallet, the con men transfer the money to bank accounts linked to their mobile numbers and then withdraw cash from the ATMs of e-wallets. The con men take SIMs in the name of illiterate people by paying them some money, who are unaware of such scams,” he said.
Karan Goyal, assistant commissioner of police, DLF and Cyber Crime, city police, said that cyber police was making efforts to sensitise people against downloading any external applications or share their bank details with anyone over the phone.