Mumbai Crime: 2 SoBo women targeted by phishers on phone, over Rs 2 lakh lost collectively

Malvika Vasvani was sent a link on her mobile through which her credit card was debited. Representation pic

A well-known jewellery designer Malvika Vasvani from South Mumbai became the target of cyber fraud last week after a phishing caller hacked into her Bank of Baroda account. She has registered an FIR with Cuffe Parade police.

Sudha Malik believed the caller especially because she had submitted her documents to the bank recently. Representation pic

In her statement, Vasvani has said, "The unknown person called on my mother's number. He pretended to be calling from Airtel's office. He identified himself as Verma. He said that he has to update the credit card of my Bank of Baroda account."

An officer said Vasvani was given a link and asked to fill a form for which she paid R13 as a convenience fee. "She received a One Time Password (OTP) after filling in the details. Then she was asked to add the details of her credit card and account on the link. The moment she added that along with the OTP, her credit card got debited by Rs 30,000. When she confronted the caller, he disconnected the call," said an officer attached to Cuffe Parade police station.

In another case of phishing call, a woman's three bank accounts were targeted, wherein the phone phisher siphoned off nearly Rs 2 lakh. Complainant Sudha Malik told mid-day that she had given her complaint to Cuffe Parade police in October last year but the cops registered an FIR only last week.

"The caller told me that he is calling from Bank of Baroda M-Connect and identified himself as Deepak Verma. He told me that Bank of Baroda is merging with Vijaya Bank and my Know Your Customer (KYC) needs to be updated," the complainant, the wife of the owner of Malik Architecture, Kamal Malik, said.

"In a bid to gain my confidence, he told me that I don't need to visit the bank as it is not safe for me to step out amid the pandemic. He gave me a PIN number and told me that it will take around six to 24-hrs to activate it. But he asked for my old PIN so that the new PIN can be generated. I thought he was a genuine caller from my bank as hardly 10 days before the incident, I had submitted copies of my PAN card, Aadhaar card, etc," she added.

"After I gave him my old PIN number, he made five transactions from three bank accounts. He siphoned off nearly Rs 2 lakh," she added.

"Soon after the FIR was registered, the fraudster again called and asked me to withdraw the FIR. He told me that if I withdraw the FIR, he will credit my bank account with the same amount he has cheated me of but he needed my bank account details. I refused to entertain him this time," Malik said.

"I suspect that Bank of Baroda leaked my information from its Cuffe Parade branch where I had submitted my PAN Card and Aadhaar card in the last one year. The police must investigate this thoroughly," she said.

5
No, of transactions made from Sudha Malik's 3 bank accounts