Prompt action helps jeweller recover ₹97,000 debited by fraudster

The fraudster then informed the senior citizen that he requires details and made the complainant install the “team viewer” app.

Mumbai: A 70-year-old jeweller from Breach Candy got back ₹97,000 that a cyber fraudster had illegally withdrawn from his bank account on Wednesday. Jeweller Vijay Natwarlal Shah, who lives near Breach Candy hospital, wanted to get his air cooler repaired so he searched for the brand’s customer care number on the internet.

As the complainant continued to follow instructions given by the unknown person, ₹97,000 was debited from his credit card, said assistant police inspector Vikas Shinde of the Gamdevi police station.

Soon after, he got a call from a man, who posed as an engineer attached to an air cooler manufacturer, and informed him that they also provide repair services, said a police officer.

The fraudster then informed the senior citizen that he requires details and made the complainant install the “team viewer” app.

The 70-year-old then filled in his details, including details of his credit card, and deposited a token amount of ₹10, as directed by the accused.

As the complainant continued to follow instructions given by the unknown person, ₹97,000 was debited from his credit card, said assistant police inspector Vikas Shinde of the Gamdevi police station.

Noticing this, the complainant immediately reported the fraud to the Gamdevi police.

The cyber unit of the police station responded promptly and found out that the amount was deposited in a Paytm account.

By the time the police contacted the concerned person in Paytm, the fraudster had transferred the money to an account in Axis bank.

The police then quickly sent a letter to the private lender and also informed its nodal officer in the payments section about the fraud and got the amount blocked in the Axis Bank account, Shinde added.

He said the process is on to get the amount reverted to the complainant’s bank account.

“We have registered a case against the unknown person and are trying to track him down using the call data records,” said police inspector Sachin Jadhav of the Gamdevi police station.