In a span of 24 hours between May 31 and June 1, a city-based businessman suffered a loss of Rs.80 lakh to cybercriminals. Intriguingly, he had refrained from sharing his banking information with anyone. The sole unusual occurrence was the temporary disappearance of his mobile phone network for a day, within which the funds were illicitly withdrawn from his bank accounts.
In his Cybercrime police FIR, Kalpesh Shah, 52, residing near Vaishnodevi Circle at Balaji Wind Park, detailed his ownership of a foam products manufacturing unit on Talod Road in Himmatnagar. Shah holds an account with a nationalized bank in the same locality. Around 5:30 pm on May 30, his phone network abruptly vanished, rendering him unable to make or receive calls. On May 31, during a visit to his office, a staff member contacted the telecom service provider to file a complaint. The telecom service provider’s representative informed Shah’s staffer that a request had been made to deactivate the sim card.
His phone network briefly reactivated, only to vanish again around 5:30 pm on May 31. Suspecting foul play, Shah reviewed his bank transactions and uncovered an unauthorized withdrawal of Rs.79.70 lakh from his account.
The fraudsters first hack the victim’s device and find the victim’s identity documents. They then use these to get the sim card deactivated, and get one re-issued to themselves. Through the new sim, they get OTPs on their devices, and withdraw money.
– Cyber Experts
