Senior citizen loses ₹10 lakh after getting call from airline representative

Mumbai: A Powai-based senior citizen told the police his account was cleared of ₹10 lakh last week after he got a call from someone claiming to be a representative of an international airline

Mumbai: A Powai-based senior citizen told the police his account was cleared of ₹10 lakh last week after he got a call from someone claiming to be a representative of an international airline. On the pretext of changing the booking dates of his tickets, the agent had asked for all banking details. He registered a case with the police on Tuesday.

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As per the complaint registered with the Powai police, Harwandsingh Chhapra (78) had received a call from the person claiming to be an airline employee on February 22. The caller asked him whether he wanted any changes in his booking schedule for his upcoming trip to the USA. Chhapra said he was looking to change the travel dates.

“The caller said I would be required to pay a fee for him to make the necessary changes. He asked me for my account number and debit card number. He also gave me a number on which I could make the said payment of ₹5,000 from my phone,” the complainant said in his statement to the police.

He further said that when he was still on the phone with the caller, he got many notifications on his phone. After disconnecting the call, he noticed several transaction alerts informing him of debiting money from his account. In all, ₹10,15,000 were debited from his account, he told the police.

Senior inspector Budhan Sawant from Powai police confirmed that a case of cheating has been registered against the unknown caller. “Being a senior citizen, he was not able to tell us exactly how the caller knew of his requirement to change his booking details. We are investigating the case,” he said.