Woman clicks link on PAN card update, frauds debit ₹1.24L

Police officer said that as she entered the OTPs, three transactions were made from her bank accounts withdrawing ₹1.24 lakh within five minutes of receiving the SMS.

A 37-year-old teacher from Andheri was duped of ₹1.24 lakh on Tuesday after she clicked a link received on SMS for updating her PAN (Permanent Account Number) card.

Woman clicks link on PAN card update, frauds debit ₹1.24L

The victim, Urvashi Phetiya, informed the police that the SMS also contained a link to her bank account.

“As she opened the link, she received a one-time password (OTP) on her mobile phone, which she entered as instructed in the SMS,” said a police officer from Andheri police station. The woman said after she entered the OTP, she received three more OTPs.

Police officer said that as she entered the OTPs, three transactions were made from her bank accounts withdrawing ₹1.24 lakh within five minutes of receiving the SMS. The woman then received a call from her bank asking, if she had made the transactions. “That is when the tuition teacher realised that she had been duped,” said the officer.

The woman then approached the police and reported the fraud.

“We are tracking the number from which the complainant had received the SMS and the link,” said the police officer. “When she clicked the link, it gave the frauds complete access of her phone through some mirroring application, and then they made the transactions and also received the OTPs required to complete the online banking transactions or perhaps the frauds sent her a google document which gave them access to her phone,” the officer clarified.

The Andheri police are now taking help from the cyber police to trace the criminals.