Chandigarh man duped of ₹97k by fraudster posing as bank executive

When the complainant asked to have the debit card permanently discontinued rather than pay the monthly fee, the fake customer care executive asked him for his card number, and then asked him the OTP (one-time password) sent to his phone

Posing as the customer care executive of a bank, a swindler duped a man of ₹97,304 on the pretext of discontinuing his debit card, police said on Wednesday.

When Rajmal told the fraudster that money had been debited from his account, he asked him to send him a Google Pay or PhonePe request so that the money could be refunded. (HT File)

The complainant, Rajmal, 45, of Sector 7, told the police that he had received a call from a man, who identified himself as the customer care executive of SBI Bank, on September 21. The caller told him that he owed the bank ₹1,750 per month for a debit card that had earlier been discontinued, but had become functional again.

When the complainant asked to have the debit card permanently discontinued rather than pay the monthly fee, the fake customer care executive asked him for his card number, and then asked him the OTP (one-time password) sent to his phone, which he did. Soon after, money was withdrawn from his bank account in two consecutive transactions.

When Rajmal told the fraudster that money had been debited from his account, he asked him to send him a Google Pay or PhonePe request so that the money could be refunded. As soon as he did so, more money was deducted from the complainant’s account over two more transactions.

A case was registered under Sections 419 (punishment for cheating by personation), 420 (cheating) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code at the Cyber Crime police station.