Techie duped of ₹14.6 lakh in credit card fraud

A 40-year-old techie from Mahadevapura lost ₹14.6 lakh to cyber fraudsters posing as customer care executives of a private bank.

The victim approached the Whitefield Cyber Crime Police Station and lodged a complaint, upon which the police registered a case against the unknown persons.

According to the police, the complainant received multiple calls on her mobile phone from different numbers. The callers allegedly introduced themselves as representatives of a private bank.

They informed her that a “card protection plan” linked to her credit card needed to be deactivated, failing which she would be charged ₹5,000 per week. The fraudsters then sent her a malicious link and guided her to click on it and follow instructions to disable the plan.

Soon after clicking the link, her mobile phone was reportedly compromised. Within a short span, multiple unauthorised transactions were carried out from her credit card, leading to a loss of ₹14,60,464.

Realising the fraud, the victim lodged a complaint and submitted relevant documents. The police have registered a case under Sections 66(C) (identity theft) and 66(D) (cheating by personation) of the IT Act, 2000, along with Sections 318(4) and 319(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023.

The police have advised the public not to click any random links they receive and crosscheck with the source before taking any steps.