Ranging from a few thousand to a few lakh rupees, 67 debit and credit card holders of the city have lost money from January till date to anonymous callers who tactfully managed to get details of the card and the card holder and used it illegally. It is learnt that such callers, whose locations are yet to be traced, have realised the heavy flow of cash and purchase power of people in Coimbatore and have started targeting the city.
Hence, the increase in such incidents reported in the recent days.
According to the police, some of the numbers from which the victims have got calls are 91-1165637302, 8873059856, 9891459503 and 044-61607475. These instances just prove the point that plastic cards not only bring comfort and convenience, but is accompanied by a huge risk.
The police said that most debit card holders lost only a few thousand rupees that remained in their accounts. But the loss was heavier for credit card holders who had a higher credit limit.
Many credit card holders have lost more than a lakh or two. They came to know about it only when they got alert SMS for transaction on their mobiles.
According to the cyber crime unit of the police, 1,324 complaints of various cyber crimes were brought to their notice. This included 279 petitions from persons whose debit or credit card particulars were used to make a purchase or transactions without the knowledge of the card holders.
The police managed to intervene in 90 such cases in which the victims had lost Rs. 34.24 lakh.
The police managed to help them get back Rs. 29.81 lakh, while the rest of the money in these cases, and in the nearly 190 other incidents, mischief mongers managed to collect the things that they ordered online.
Method
The common method of the miscreants was to approach the card holder by posing as an employee of the bank.
Claiming that they had called to renew the card or provide the cards with the picture of the bank account holder, they get the card number and date of birth of the account holder.
They also ask for the one time password (OTP) that the card holder has got on his or her mobile phone. In a couple of minutes, the card holder realise they are cheated as money is deducted for transaction they have not made. In most cases, the miscreants made multiple transactions.
In many cases police could not stop transactions as the victims approached the police a couple of days after they lost the money. In case mischief mongers made a purchase the police could intervene, by stopping the delivery of the product and get the money reversed to the account, only when it is brought to their notice in time.
Tips
Cardholders should stop sharing their card number, validity, CVV number (a three digit mentioned on the reverse side of the card) or the four-digit batch code mentioned on the front side of the card in case of foreign banks and date of birth with those making a telephone call. Cardholders should know that none of the banks seek details from card holders
On getting the first alert for a transaction they have not made, they should ask the bank to block their card and stop transactions using their card.
Lodge a complaint with cyber crime cell police, with the bank statement, without delay.
