Kochi: Two men, both from Alangad, were tricked by fraudsters into revealing their One Time Password (OTP) which was used the to make online purchases worth Rs 69, 507. However, on learning about the withdrawal of money from their account through a mobile message, they wasted no time and approached the Ernakulam Rural cyber cell with a complaint in an hour. “The fraudsters called them posing as bank officials and asked each of the victims to give the OTP message received on their mobile phones claiming that the same was for renewing their ‘expired’ credit card. However, the duo realised they were tricked in when they lost Rs 40,000 and Rs 29,507 respectively,” a police officer said.
During a probe, the cyber cell squad found that the fraudsters used the money to purchase materials online using e-wallets. The cyber cell contacted administrators of the e-commerce sites and asked them to cancel the order. “The amount was credited back to the account of the victims. Further probe is on to track the fraudsters,” the officer said. Following the incident on Friday, the Ernakulam Rural Police issued an advisory to the public not to share any details of your account or debit/ credit cards with unknown persons who contact them over phone.
“The fraudsters generally contact the persons and demand the OTP under the guise of linking Aadhar, renewal of ATM or Credit Card and for redeeming reward points. Do not share the ATM or credit card number, CVV and OTP with anybody and do not conduct transactions on websites that are unsafe,” said Rahul R. Nair, Ernakulam Rural Superintendent.
