UDUPI : A man from Brahmavara in Udupi lost Rs 99,997 in five transactions while attempting to recharge his FASTag account by calling a helpline number he found on the net. Realising that he was duped, Francis Pius Furtado approached a Udupi CEN police who registered a cyber fraud case.
Furtado was travelling from Brahmavara to Mangaluru in his four-wheeler on January 29 when near the Hejamady toll plaza, he realised that his FASTag balance was running low and tried to recharge. As he was in a hurry, he called the helpline number on the net.
The person on the other end introduced himself as a representative of ‘Paytm FASTag’ and assured to help him. The operator told Francis that he will receive a one-time password (OTP) and asked him to reveal it to him.
Following his instructions, Rs 49,000 was deducted from Francis’ account. Continuing with four more transactions, Francis lost Rs 19,999, Rs 19,998, Rs 9,999 and Rs 1,000. In total, Francis ended up losing Rs 99,997.
The police said the complainant called up a fake number as he searched for a customer care number on the net. Police sources added that Francis was asked to download a suspicious mobile app from which the money was deducted.
Udupi CEN police inspector Manjunath told TNIE that an investigation is on to find out to which bank account the money was transferred. Based on that information, the customer details (KYC details) available with the bank will be sought and the culprits will be traced, he said. A case has been registered at Udupi CEN police station under sections 66(C) and 66(D) of the IT Act.