Chandigarh: Man loses ₹9.29L to scammer posing as bank official

During the video call, the caller asked the Chandigarh resident to display his existing credit cards; he unknowingly revealed details of his two credit cards.

A Chandigarh resident fell victim to a sophisticated credit card fraud, resulting in financial losses to the tune of ₹9.29 lakh. The cybercrime involved a fraudulent caller impersonating a Punjab National Bank official and using deceptive tactics to gain access to sensitive financial details.

The victim, T Rajesh Kumar, immediately lodged a complaint with Chandigarh Cyber Cell. (Representative Image)

The incident unfolded when T Rajesh Kumar received a phone call from an individual on December 23, 2024, who introduced himself as Ajay Tripathi from Punjab National Bank, offering assistance with credit card application. Initially contacted via a voice call, the fraudster later requested a WhatsApp video call to purportedly verify Kumar’s credentials.

During the video call, the caller asked Kumar to display his existing credit cards. He unknowingly revealed details of his American Express supplementary credit card (issued under his wife’s name) and his Axis Bank credit card. The fraudster then sent a link to a malicious application form on WhatsApp, which, upon being opened, triggered unauthorised transactions from his bank account.

A total of seven transactions were made by the fraudster. Immediately after this, Kumar promptly contacted Axis Bank and American Express customer care to block the cards and stop further transactions. However, ₹9.29 lakh had already been debited by the time action was taken.

Kumar immediately lodged a complaint with Chandigarh Cyber Cell.

However, the undeterred fraudster contacted Kumar again the following day from another number, falsely claiming to refund the stolen amounts. Kumar disconnected the call, but more unauthorised transaction attempts were made using his AU Small Finance Bank card on Amazon. Fortunately, Amazon detected the suspicious activity and blocked the account, refunding the attempted amounts.

Cyber police registered a case under Sections 318(4), 319(2), 336(3), 338, 340(2), 61(2) of the BNS on Saturday. An investigation in the case is underway.