Kochi: In yet another online fraud, an Aluva native has lost over Rs 40,000 when unidentified men withdrew the amount from the account in the name of a construction company maintained at the State Bank of Travancore through money transfer using his ATM card PIN from Brooklyn in the US.
The fraud came to light on Thursday evening, when Navas, the owner of 'Naas' Constructions, received an SMS alert on his mobile about withdrawal of money from his account maintained at the SBT branch at Thottakkattukara.
"I got the alert at 5.30 pm about withdrawal of Rs 40,333 from the account which had Rs 45,000. I immediately alerted the bank officials who checked and said the money was withdrawn from Brooklyn in the US using my ATM card PIN and utilising the City Bank money transfer services. I lodged a complaint with the police and the bank officials," Mr Navas said.
Initial probe revealed an equivalent amount in dollars was transferred out of his account using the money transfer facility. Further probe is on, police said. "The strange thing is that he had so far not done any online transaction using the ATM card though he used it to withdraw money from ATM," they said.
