HYDERABAD: With police creating awareness among people about debit card and credit card frauds, the cyber criminals are changing their modus operandi and siphoning money from the bank accounts of innocent people.
In a recent case under Rachakonda commissionerate, a private employee who had purchased a used mobile phone for `600 had lost `70,000 from his bank account, when he shared the bank account details and also the One-Time Password (OTP).
The private employee from LB Nagar was browsing the net to purchase a used phone. He found a new website offering a good phone for `600 and purchased it instantly. Few days later, the employee received a phone, but it was not what he had ordered. He immediately called the customer support of the website and asked for a replacement, but they agreed to pay back, only through a electronic money transfer.
After sometime, the employee received a call regarding money transfer. The caller had asked the employee to share his bank details and also the OTP, to finish the transferring `600. As soon as he shared the OTP, `70,000 disappeared from the account, and the employee received a message that money was debited instead of credited.
Based on his complaint, the Rachakonda cyber crime police registered a case and preliminarily it was found that the website was created on fake addresses just to cheat innocent people through a different modus operandi, A cyber crime official said that so far, three complaints were registered with similar modus operandi, but the victims brought different articles.
The criminals could have resorted to the new modus operandi, as awareness has come in public regarding debit and credit card frauds. Many people are calling the police officials seeking advise to share OTP and bank details when they received calls from strangers, the officer shared.
“It is advised to shop on popular websites, instead of opting for new websites, which offer unusual discounts. Public should not reveal the details of bank accounts or OTP to any person over phone, as it could lead to illegal money transfer,” said the officer.