Ex-bank official from Mumbai falls prey to vishing call, cheated of ₹40,000 by imposter

The senior citizen did not suspect anything amiss as the fraudster got his name and his bank’s name correct.

In possibly the first case of vishing fraud this year, a 70-year-old retired bank official was duped of Rs40,000 by a fraudster who posed as a bank official and tricked him into giving his debit card details.

According to Meghwadi police, the victim is a resident of Jogeshwari(East) and retired as an official in a nationalised bank. His son, too, works in a private bank.

The senior citizen approached the police on Monday alleging that on January 5 around 11 am, he received a phone call from a person posing as the manager of his bank. The senior citizen did not suspect anything amiss as the fraudster got his name and his bank’s name correct.

The caller said that the complainant's ATM card has been blocked and in order to unblock it, asked for his debit card number, Card Verification Number number and One Time Password that had been received on the senior citizen’s mobile phone. The complainant gave him the details and within minutes, received messages on his phone informing him about the online shopping he had done.

Confirming the development, senior police inspector Pandurang Patil of Meghwadi police station said they are trying to trace the mobile number. Patil said it is most likely the handiwork of accused from a far off state in north India.

An FIR against an unknown person under section 419 (impersonation) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code and 66C (identity theft) and 66 D (impersonation using computer resource) of the Information Technology Act has been registered.