E-Paper
Rtd govt official cheated of ₹87K in online fraud
A 70-year-old retired government official fell prey to a vhishing scam after an unknown person cheated him of ₹87,000 while pretending to update his KYC (know your
A 70-year-old retired government official fell prey to a vhishing scam after an unknown person cheated him of ₹87,000 while pretending to update his KYC (know your customer) details.
Santosh Jain, a resident of Sector 20 in Kharghar, told the police in his complaint that he received the call in November last year.
Jain retired as a manager at the Nuclear Power Corporation of India in Chembur.
Jain told officials he received a call from an unknown number and the person told him that his PayTM KYC is nearing its expiry. The scamster posed as a PayTM executive and told Jain that he could help him update his KYC if he wants to.
When Jain agreed, the accused directed him to download Google Pay application and a remote access application. The accused walked Jain through linking his bank account with the Google Pay app.
At the end, the accused asked for the OTP to gain access to Jain’s phone using the remote access app. With the remote access app, the accused managed to go through the phone including every application and browser to perform any action.
“Since he could access Jain’s phone due to the remote access app, he used the Google Pay app and transferred ₹76,000 from the complainant’s account. Using his credit card, the accused further withdrew ₹11,000,” said an officer from Kharghar police station.
Noticing the deductions, when Jain asked the caller about it, the person said it was a standard procedure and the money will be refunded to his PayTM account. Jain realised he had been cheated when money was credited to any of his accounts.
Vhishing is a very common form of cheating where scamsters using phone calls, cheat the victims by either getting them to sign up for dubious offers or by getting them to comply with KYC updates.
Jain submitted an application to the cybercrime cell in December last year and the case was transferred to the Kharghar police station.
The Kharghar police have booked the unknown person under section 66D (punishment for cheating by personation by using computer resource) of the Information Technology Act.
