In a shocking case of cyber fraud reported from Jogeshwari, a construction businessman lost nearly Rs 27 lakh through fraudulent online transactions on his credit card, despite not sharing the OTP with anyone. The Amboli Police Station has registered a case against an unidentified cyber fraudster under cheating and relevant sections of the IT Act and has launched an investigation.
According to police sources, the complainant, a construction businessman residing in Jogeshwari with his family, holds an account in a private bank and also possesses a credit card from another bank, which he frequently uses for online shopping.
On February 14, he had ordered an item from Amazon. However, as he was dissatisfied with the product, he attempted to contact the company to initiate a return. He was unable to connect initially.
On February 23, around 1:15 pm, he received a call from an unknown person who claimed to be calling from Amazon. The caller sought details regarding the purchased item and payment information under the pretext of processing the return.
While sharing the details, the complainant received an OTP on his mobile phone. He did not share the OTP with anyone. However, within a short time, he began receiving bank messages stating that Rs 27,75,480 had been debited from his credit card through multiple transactions.
Police suspect that the fraudster hacked the victim’s mobile phone and accessed his banking information to execute the fraudulent transactions.
Upon realising the fraud, the businessman immediately contacted the bank’s customer care and requested that his credit card be blocked. He then approached the cyber department and lodged a complaint at Amboli Police Station.
Based on his complaint, police have registered an FIR against an unidentified cyber criminal under charges of cheating and relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act. Officials from the local police and the cyber cell are conducting a parallel investigation to trace the accused.