Phone, bank account hacked, CA loses Rs 1.41 lakh to phishing

A chartered accountant employed with a Gurgaon-based MNC and resident of Vasant Kunj in New Delhi alleged that he was fleeced of Rs 1.31 lakh through internet banking fraud. Leena Dhankhar reports.

A chartered accountant employed with a Gurgaon-based MNC and resident of Vasant Kunj in New Delhi alleged that he was fleeced of Rs 1.31 lakh through internet banking fraud.

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According to victim Harsh Mehta, 27, the money was siphoned off from his salary account in the Gurgaon branch of Standard Chartered Bank.

He also claimed to have lost Rs 10,654 on his credit card.

Shuttling between Delhi and Gurgaon to get a police complaint registered since Friday, the KPMG employee said his phone was first hacked and a one-time password (OTP) obtained from the bank.

A case is yet to be registered and Mehta claimed that neither the mobile company nor the bank is helping him.

“I do use internet banking but such a thing has never happened before. The hacker also got the bank SMS alert service on my phone number deactivated, so I could not get messages notifying me of transactions,” Mehta claimed.

“On January 19 around 5 pm, I received an SMS from Airtel giving an ID for changing my SIM number. After that, there was no signal on my mobile. I was surprised as I had never made such a request. I contacted the Airtel customer care officer and he assured me that nothing would happen and they will keep a check,” he said.

When Mehta contacted the bank for details, he was told that the money was transferred through net banking to an account in Mumbai. “I went to the Delhi police but they took no action on my complaint and asked me to go to Gurgaon as my bank account was there.”