In the era of constant warnings about ATM fraud, can the State’s top police officer be gullible enough to reveal his ATM card and PIN to a fraudulent caller claiming to be from his bank? Ironically, shockingly, and funnily enough, the answer is yes.
Director-General and Inspector-General of Police Om Prakash lost Rs. 12,000 to a miscreant, after he gave out his ATM card number along with its PIN, two months ago. Finally, the Cyber Crime police from the Criminal Investigation Department tracked down the fraudster and arrested him from Chennai.
The incident occurred in the second week of April. Ashraf Ali (27) called Mr. Om Prakash and claimed to be a representative of a private bank and sought details of the card, claiming it was time for renewal. An unsuspecting Mr. Om Prakash gave his card number and other details. In just a few minutes he received an SMS that Rs. 12,000 had been withdrawn from his account. “I realised I had fallen prey to an ATM fraud, after I got the SMS. I immediately got my card blocked and lodged a complaint with cyber crime police,” confirmed Mr. Om Prakash to The Hindu. He refused to comment further on the case.
Cyber Crime police, tracked down the suspect through the mobile phone the miscreant had used to call Mr. Om Prakash and the IP address of the computer he had used to skim off the money. Ashraf Ali hails from New Delhi and was based out of Chennai.
The end lesson is simple. Top cop or not, remember the message “do not reveal your account, card or other details to anyone.”
