‘Bank officials’ get Mumbai residents to share card details, cheat them of ₹1.18 lakh

Fraudsters get homemaker and airline employee to share their credit and debit card details on the pretexts of unblocking it or redeeming points

In separate cases at Andheri (East), a doctor’s wife and an administration officer with a private airline allegedly lost Rs1.18 lakh to cyber fraudsters who posed as bank officials on phone and got them to share their credit and debit card details on the pretexts of unblocking a card and redeeming points.

FIRs have been registered in both the cases under section 419 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code for impersonation and cheating respectively. (HT)

According to the police, on September 27, a 26-year-old homemaker received a phone call while she was at home. Her husband is a doctor in a private hospital and was at work at the time. A fraudster posing as an official from her bank said that her ATM card was blocked and that he would require her 16-digit card number and CVV to unblock it. She also gave her one-time password, after which the fraudster withdrew Rs76,000 from her bank account, the police said.

According to the police, the woman’s brother-in-law’s wife overheard the conversation and asked her who was on the call. When the victim told what had happened, her relative realised it was a fraud, snatched the phone from the victim and yelled at the fraudster who immediately cut the call.

In the second incident on September 28, a 44-year-old administration officer with a private airline received a phone call from a person posing as a customer care official of her bank, police said.

The fraudster told her that her credit card points could be redeemed to her bank account for which she needs to give him her details, the police said.

She gave her credit card as well as her debit card details after which the man made seven transactions, withdrawing Rs 42,400.