Senior citizen loses ₹25L to SIM swap fraud
Mayur.Shetty@timesgroup.com
Mumbai:05.08.2019
A senior citizen is struggling to recover ₹25 lakh debited fraudulently from his bank account using a duplicate SIM card. The amount was transferred into four accounts across the country. While the police are investigating the money trail, the multi-state nature of the crime is making recovery difficult.
When Mahavir Mittal, a retired government employee in Noida, was unable to access his Indus Ind Bank account through net banking and found his Airtel mobile connection blocked, he approached the bank.
On June 14, the bank informed Mittal that ₹25.1 lakh was transferred from his account. The fraudulently transactions took place on June 12. The amount was transferred to three different accounts — ₹5 lakh to a Kotak Mahindra Bank’s Akbarpur branch in UP, ₹6.3 lakh to a Bank of Baroda a/c in Allahabad and ₹13.8 lakh to an ICICI Bank holder in Nadia, West Bengal. Mittal lodged a complaint with the Noida Cyber Crime Cell on June 14.
By obtaining a duplicate SIM, the fraudster managed to get the OTP sent to Mittal, whose SIM was inactive since June 8. On June 11, Mittal visited an Airtel store to complain about his inactive SIM, where he was informed that the SIM was actually active on a different phone.
The RBI entitles customers for zero liability where the deficiency lies neither with the bank nor with the customer but elsewhere in the system. The customer has to notify the bank within three working days of receiving communication regarding the unauthorised transaction. An IndusInd Bank spokesperson said, “It is practically impossible to fraudulently withdraw money from an online account unless the customer compromises personal details inadvertently or otherwise.” The spokesperson said that adding a beneficiary for funds transfer requires two factor authentication — the login ID & password and an OTP sent to the customer’s registered mobile number.
“In this case, the bank sent the OTP to the registered mobile number of the customer,” he said. He added that the bank is cooperating with the investigation.
In response to the duplicate SIM issue, an Airtel spokesperson said the company is assisting the police in their investigation. The spokesperson added that customers are advised not to share any sensitive or personal information with anyone.
According to Kotak group chief communication officer Rohit Rao, the bank acted promptly upon receiving an intimation from IndusInd Bank on June 14, requesting return of funds debited to Mittal’s account on June 12 and credited to the account of Larenj Kumar, an account holder of Kotak’s Akbarpur branch.
Mayur.Shetty@timesgroup.com
Mumbai:05.08.2019
A senior citizen is struggling to recover ₹25 lakh debited fraudulently from his bank account using a duplicate SIM card. The amount was transferred into four accounts across the country. While the police are investigating the money trail, the multi-state nature of the crime is making recovery difficult.
When Mahavir Mittal, a retired government employee in Noida, was unable to access his Indus Ind Bank account through net banking and found his Airtel mobile connection blocked, he approached the bank.
On June 14, the bank informed Mittal that ₹25.1 lakh was transferred from his account. The fraudulently transactions took place on June 12. The amount was transferred to three different accounts — ₹5 lakh to a Kotak Mahindra Bank’s Akbarpur branch in UP, ₹6.3 lakh to a Bank of Baroda a/c in Allahabad and ₹13.8 lakh to an ICICI Bank holder in Nadia, West Bengal. Mittal lodged a complaint with the Noida Cyber Crime Cell on June 14.
By obtaining a duplicate SIM, the fraudster managed to get the OTP sent to Mittal, whose SIM was inactive since June 8. On June 11, Mittal visited an Airtel store to complain about his inactive SIM, where he was informed that the SIM was actually active on a different phone.
The RBI entitles customers for zero liability where the deficiency lies neither with the bank nor with the customer but elsewhere in the system. The customer has to notify the bank within three working days of receiving communication regarding the unauthorised transaction. An IndusInd Bank spokesperson said, “It is practically impossible to fraudulently withdraw money from an online account unless the customer compromises personal details inadvertently or otherwise.” The spokesperson said that adding a beneficiary for funds transfer requires two factor authentication — the login ID & password and an OTP sent to the customer’s registered mobile number.
“In this case, the bank sent the OTP to the registered mobile number of the customer,” he said. He added that the bank is cooperating with the investigation.
In response to the duplicate SIM issue, an Airtel spokesperson said the company is assisting the police in their investigation. The spokesperson added that customers are advised not to share any sensitive or personal information with anyone.
According to Kotak group chief communication officer Rohit Rao, the bank acted promptly upon receiving an intimation from IndusInd Bank on June 14, requesting return of funds debited to Mittal’s account on June 12 and credited to the account of Larenj Kumar, an account holder of Kotak’s Akbarpur branch.
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