Mysuru: Cyber criminals have cheated a senior citizen of Rs. 2.99 lakh after posing themselves as bank officials and collecting the One Time Password (OTP) from the elderly person.

The 74-year-old is a resident of Vontikoppal. The elderly person, who had been to Bengaluru, purchased a few items at a shop on Commercial Street for Rs. 3,000 and made the payment through his debit card. But the shopkeeper, who said that he had not received the money, told the elderly person to pay cash following which the senior citizen made the payment through cash.

When the senior citizen checked the balance in his bank account, an amount of Rs. 3,000 was debited. The senior citizen then called the toll-free number mentioned in the debit card to lodge a complaint.

The person, who received the call, told the senior citizen that he had dialled the wrong number but he collected the OTP sent to the senior citizen’s phone and siphoned off Rs. 2,99,900 from the elderly person’s account.

A case has been registered at city’s CEN Police Station.