Man posing as bank official dupes Navi Mumbai woman of ₹6.97 lakh

The woman, who had just received ₹7.5 lakh of a loan, gave her PIN to the caller after being told that her debit card had been blocked. The criminal called 28 times between May 17 and 23 asking for the one-time password.

A 40-year-old woman lost ₹6.97 lakh from her bank account after a man posing as a bank official called her on multiple occasions within a week asking for her PIN.

The victim also received the alerts on her phone after every transaction but did not suspect anything. She kept giving him the OTPs till May 23(HT PHOTO)

Police said the victim Tasnim Modak did not realise something was amiss even though she kept receiving transaction alerts on her registered mobile number after every withdrawal.

“On May 17, she (Modak) received a call from an unknown number. The caller introduced himself as the manager of her bank. He said that her debit card has been blocked for some technical reasons. He asked for her PIN to unblock the card,” said BN Awti, inspector from Nerul police station.

Modak provided the PIN for her debit card as well as other details such as her card number and account number. Banks often warn their customers that sensitive details, especially the PIN, do not need to be shared with employees.

“The culprit fraudulently transferred cash from Modak’s account to his own. But for doing that, he needed the one time password (OTP) which was sent to Modak’s mobile phone,” Awti said.

Modak, who lives in Nerul’s Sector 23, had recently taken a loan of ₹10 lakh for son’s education. Of this, ₹7.5 lakh had been deposited in her account.

Over the next week, between May 17 and 23, the culprit called Modak 28 times for the OTPs. “He took away ₹6.97 lakh from her account in 28 transactions,” the inspector said.

“Modak received the alerts on her phone after every transaction but did not suspect anything. She kept giving him the OTPs till May 23. We are still unable to understand why she kept doing that even after receiving transaction alerts,” he added.

Modak only realised what happened when she visited the bank to update her passbook.

Officials at the bank informed her the amount was withdrawn from her account in online transactions. They also told her that they hadn’t called her to ask for her details.

Modal registered an FIR on Friday.

“The number used by the culprit is switched off. We are trying to trace him with the help of cyber experts,” Awti said.

Police have booked a case under sections 420 and 170 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 66C and D of the IT Act.

“We are trying to get more details of the transactions from the bank,” said another police officer.