Online fraudster dupes elderly couple of Rs. 4.23 lakh

Mysore/Mysuru: While nations are doing all that they can to lessen the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic, fraudsters — true to form — have identified it as an opportunity to make money and are actively using COVID-19 as a way to cash. 

Amid the pandemic, banks have encouraged customers to opt for online, mobile and phone banking services in lieu of branch visits. Using the bank’s communication to customers, fraudsters are targeting the vulnerable people, especially senior citizens who are not familiar with online banking transactions. 

A senior citizen couple in city was cheated by fraudsters on July 27 who polished off Rs. 4,23,047 from three bank accounts in matter of minutes after the couple shared their bank and ATM Card details over phone. The couple who was cheated is B.V. Bollamma, a retired employee of Agricultural Department and her husband K.S. Kuttappa, an ex-Serviceman. They are the residents of BEML Layout at Srirampura in city. 

Bollamma has an account in State Bank of India (SBI) near MCC Office and she used personally to go to the bank every month to withdraw pension and update her passbook. But due to COVID-19 pandemic, she could not go to the bank for over three months and as a result her passbook was not updated and also her pension amount was not withdrawn. 

First fraud call

Bollamma had read in newspapers that banks were open for online transactions only but not for physical visits. At 3.15 pm on July 27, Bollamma got a call from a fraudster posing as an employee of SBI Customer Care Division. He told her that he would update her account online and there was no need for her to visit the bank physically. 

Bollamma had never transacted online and the conman promised her that he would help her update the account herself.  Incidentally, the fraudster knew her account number, the balance in her account, her RD account details and all the other confidential data including her date of birth and her monthly pension amount. 

OTP shared

Though the fraudster spoke in broken Hindi-mixed Kannada, Bollamma did not smell a rat and he justified his style of speech as he was from the bank call centre. Also, as he knew her bank details, Bollamma thought that he was her bank employee and shared the OTP received in her mobile phone through an SMS.

During the conversation, Bollamma told him that her RD accounts were maturing in 2020 and he promised to update that account too. After getting the access through OTP, the fraudster withdrew Rs. 1,39,363 from her one RD account and Rs. 1,56,023 from the other RD account. He later withdrew Rs. 44,061 from Bollamma’s pension account. 

Husband targeted too

All this happened within minutes and Bollamma did not even realise that she has been conned. Next, the conman was able to get the bank account details of her husband Kuttappa who had accounts in Kodagu. While Rs. 48,600 was withdrawn from Kuttappa’s SBI Virajpet branch, Rs. 35,000 was withdrawn from his Madikeri Canara Bank account. 

Yesterday too, the fraudster, realising that Bollamma’s account had Rs. 25,000 balance, called her again and told her that she would get an OTP like the previous two instances. This time, however, Bollamma was alert and she had discussed the issue with her daughter who had told Bollamma that she had been conned. 

Bank-to-bank transfer

As the fraudster telephoned, Bollamma’s daughter picked up the call and questioned the speaker on the other end. He rudely told her to give the phone to the bank account holder (Bollamma) and when the daughter refused, the conman abused her and cut the call. The couple visited the SBI branch today where the bank officers told them that it was a bank-to-bank transfer and a professional gang was behind the fraud. The Police have been informed and the complaint will be handed over to Cyber Crime Branch. Kuttappa has been asked to fetch details of the withdrawals from his banks and he has left to Kodagu. 

Insider job?

Police sources told SOM that this fraud could not have been done without insider involvement as the conman had Bollamma’s confidential data. “We will be able to trace the money trail once we receive data from the banks. People must be careful and should not share their confidential data and OTPs to strangers,” a Police Officer said.