BENGALURU: A senior Army officer posted in Bengaluru lost Rs 4 lakh to online fraudsters, even after requesting his account be frozen. He has now lodged a police complaint against officials working at the nationalised bank and an e-wallet firm.
The 52-year-old Brigadier had tried to withdraw Rs 10,000 from his account on August 21, but the transaction failed. The subsequent transaction was successful and Rs 15,000 was withdrawn from an ATM, but the slip showed that Rs 25,000 was withdrawn.
The next day, he contacted customer care, requesting a reversal of Rs 10,000. The staff asked him for some details and assured the money will be credited in two working days. To his shock, four transactions - each for Rs 49,999 - were made within four minutes on August 23.
The Brigadier, who does not use online or mobile banking, immediately reported the matter to the bank, and requested that his debit card be blocked and the account be frozen. The same day, he lodged a complaint with Viveknagar police and an FIR was registered.
“Even after being assured that the account was frozen and the card blocked, Rs 1,99,996 was debited again from my account on August 24,” he said. The second time too, four transactions were made in four minutes, but from a different phone number.
All the transactions were initiated through an e-wallet mobile application. The Army officer met the bank’s branch manager, but allegedly, did not get a positive response. The Brigadier has complained against the bank officials and an e-wallet firm to the police. Between the two phone numbers used to commit the fraud, one number starts with +92 - the code for Pakistan. Such numbers are being rampantly used by online fraudsters.