THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: An ex-military officer was allegedly duped by con men who siphoned off nearly a lakh from his bank account at Mangalapuram on Monday. Sasidharan, a 64-year-old ex-officer, filed a complaint with the cyberpolice and Mangalapuram police. The police began the probe and they suspect the involvement of online banking fraudsters based in North India.
According to the complaint, Sasidharan lost around Rs 89,000 from his account after he was told to tell his account details of his credit card by a person in the guise of a bank executive over phone. Sasidharan was initially told to confirm his name, account name on the credit card and the credit card number. Since the caller told the card details to Sasidharan correctly, he believed it was a genuine call from the bank.
Besides, Sasidharan was expecting a call from the bank as he reported to the bank earlier about changing the pin number. Later, he was told to reveal the OTP (One Time Password) which he received on his phone. But he soon became suspicious about the caller when he was also advised to tell his Aadhaar card number.
Sasidharan did not reveal the details and cut the phone. But his money was siphoned off from his account by that time. The fraud came to light after he received messages on his phone citing money had been debited from his account.
A cyberpolice team has begun a probe and initial evidence pointing to credit card fraud. The police said many complaints have been received at their desk related to OTP frauds. The police also warned the public not to reveal the account details to the callers and report it to the police immediately.