Nearly 50 account holders of State Bank of Mysore in Sringeri were struck dumb. This branch alone lost money totalling Rs. 4.5 lakh within hours. Hundreds of Rs. 49 online withdrawals took place between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Sunday, and account holders receiving text alerts on their cellphones, rushed to the bank’s branches or blocked their cards online.
Sringeri police registered a complaint on Sunday. A police official was posted to the bank’s branch to collect details from customers. On Sunday evening, bank officials began receiving the complaints and blocked the cards.
Prasanna, a resident of Sringeri, lost Rs. 50,000 from his account. “Now, I’m left with only a few hundred rupees,” he said. Prasanna seems to have lost the maximum amount in Sringeri.
Krishnamurthy, a member of Sringeri Town Panchayat, on Monday, said that his brother Aditya received alerts on account transactions around 3.30 p.m. on Sunday, saying Rs. 49 was withdrawn from his account multiple times.
“My brother lost nearly Rs. 4,000. We went to the bank and got the ATM card blocked immediately,” he said. Bank officers were on duty on Sunday as they were attending to year-end accounts.
Another customer, K.V. Balasubramanya, said: “There were 59 transactions each with Rs. 49 withdrawn. I logged into my account and blocked the card and then informed the bank,” he said. Venugopal, manager of the branch, told The Hindu that till Monday afternoon, 45 customers had approached him with similar complaints. “The amount withdrawn varies from Rs. 500 to Rs. 50,000. The number of transactions with respect to each account varies from 10 to 500. We have informed the head office and point of sale (POS) has been blocked with respect to all accounts of the bank,” he said.
Amounts withdrawn varies from Rs. 500 to Rs. 50,000. The no. of transactions in each account varies from 10 to 500
Venugopal,
SBM Bank Manager, Sringeri
