Despite numerous advisories issued by the police, cases relating to Internet-related banking frauds continue to be reported in the city.
A recent case involved large transactions being undertaken, even while the one-time passwords (OTP) were not divulged by the card holder.
₹1 lakh siphoned off
Earlier this month, Vinod G. Nair, a prominent city-based builder, witnessed over ₹1 lakh being siphoned off from his State Bank of India (SBI) credit card through online transactions. As many as seven transactions, amounting to ₹1.03 lakh, had taken place on November 2, though the complainant had the credit card and his mobile phone with him. He also claimed to not having shared the OTP with anyone.
During each transaction, the card holder had received SMSs which provided alerts regarding the initiation of the transaction and OTPs being issued subsequently. It later emerged that all of the attempted transactions had gone through, rendering the hapless complainant a mute spectator. Lately, he has been intimated by the bank to clear the outstanding dues. Mr. Nair had submitted his complaint to the City police and the case has been referred to the Cyber Cell.
Deputy Commissioner of Police G. Jaidev said the City police were examining every aspect of suspected banking frauds that had emerged lately. A special team led by the Sub-inspector of the City police Cyber Cell has been entrusted with such cases.
He said similar cases had been reported in the recent past in which the account holders had claimed not to have revealed the OTPs that were generated.
Previous transactions
However, unique details that could have been shared by people during previous transactions will have to be scrutinised to understand how they could have been skimmed. It is important to remain guarded against evolving techniques of fraudulent practices, he added.
