Hyderabad: An 80-year-old retired employee who had savings in a bank account fell victim to a fraud by cyber criminals who siphoned off Rs 1.80 lakh on the pretext of verifying his bank account. Rachakonda cybercrime cops arrested two suspects, identified as Dilip Kumar Nayak, 21, and Akash Mohanty, 23, of Odisha for involvement in the fraud.
According to the police, the unwary victim received a call from a person, who identified himself as manager in State Bank of India in Mumbai, and sought details of his bank account for verification. Believing the call to be genuine, the victim shared his debit and card details, expiry date, CVV number and the One Time Password (OTP) for verification. After the call was disconnected, he realised that '1.80 lakh had been siphoned off from his account.
Based on a complaint, Rachakonda cybercrime police registered a case and traced the callers to Odisha. On inquiry, it was found that the suspects were working for a mobile service provider. In 2016, they bought out the franchise they once worked for. Later, they figured out that they could make quick money by providing large amounts of data containing mobile numbers of customers to agents in Jharkhand and West Bengal.
“They sold phone number data gleaned from bill payments. The agents paid them 15 per cent commission for each transaction.” Rachakonda police Commissioner Mahesh Bhagwat said in an official release.
The commissioner urged citizens to be cautious of phishing voice calls made in the name banks and insurance companies. Banks and insurance companies will never call customers and ask for their account details, he asserted. The duo were arrested and sent to remand on Monday.
