The city police has reported a rise in the number of online fraud cases. Recently, two complaints of online fraud were registered in the Dindoshi and Vakola police stations. In both the cases, the complainants had received calls from imposters posing as bank employees asking for their debit and credit card numbers. After they received the information, money was withdrawn from their accounts. The police is currently looking for the accused.
Manisha Thalari (20) a resident of Santa Cruz, who works in a call centre, received a call last week from a person who identified himself as Rahul Sharma. He told Ms Thalari that her ATM card had been cancelled and she needed to apply for a fresh one. In order for ‘Sharma’ to do so, he needed her 16-digit digital number printer on her ATM card. Ms Thalari gave the number but when asked for her ATM pin, she started feeling suspicious and disconnected the call. Later, Ms Thalari came to know that Rs 56,000 was withdrawn from her bank account in Saraswat Bank. Following the incident, she approached the Vakola police station on Thursday and lodged a complaint.
In a similar incident, a 20-year-old college student Aruna Varankar received a phone call on Wednesday and the caller asked for her ATM pin, saying that he was calling from her bank and needed to verify whether her ATM card was legal or not. Ms Varankar revealed her pin number to the caller and after some time she received a text from the bank informing that Rs 20,000 had been withdrawn from her account. Following the incident, she registered a complaint at the Dindoshi police station.
According to a police official, the complaints were registered under Sections 419 (cheating by personation) and 420 (cheating and dishonestly) of Indian Penal Code along with relevant sections of the IT Act. The police is looking for the caller now.
