89-year-old attempts to redeem ‘credit card points’, loses ₹1.36 lakh

Believing the message was genuine, the octogenarian called on the number, but the call got disconnected. A few moments later, he received a call from another number and the caller identified himself as an executive from the SBI helpline

Mumbai: After receiving an SMS about earning credit card points on his State Bank of India card, an 89-year-old Cumbala Hill resident called the sender to redeem the points. In the process to earn it, the man ended up sharing his bank details to fake bank executive on the call and lost ₹1.36 lakh.

89-year-old attempts to redeem ‘credit card points’, loses ₹1.36 lakh

The complainant has two bank accounts, Yes Bank and State Bank of India. Recently, the complainant received a message saying if he wants to redeem the credit card points, that he has earned on his SBI credit card, then contact the given number for assistance.

Believing the message was genuine, the octogenarian called on the number, but the call got disconnected. A few moments later, he received a call from another number and the caller identified himself as an executive from the SBI helpline.

The caller asked the complainant about his credit card details and if he has any other bank accounts. The victim shared his credit card details. The accused person then told him that he would receive the money from redeemed points in his Yes Bank account and asked him about the details of his Yes Bank debit card. The victim shared the same including the CVV number, the FIR states.

After this, the accused asked the complainant to download the ‘Any Desk’ application (a mobile app that provides remote access to any device). A few minutes after the victim downloaded the app, he received OTPs and later SMS alerts about five money transactions, a police officer said.

The complainant then realised that he was defrauded. He lost ₹1.36 lakh in five unauthorised transactions.

The Gamdevi police on Monday registered a case under sections 419, 420 of IPC and 66C and 66D of the Information Technology Act.

Police said that the investigators have written to the service provider and concerned bank seeking more details of the beneficiary bank accounts in which fraudulently obtained money was transferred.