An 80-year-old retired government servant in Ahmedabad lost Rs 17 lakh within 30 seconds in a cyber scam, losing his lifetime savings collected in over 38 years. The fraudsters posed as bank officials and asked the man to share his banking details, after which he lost lakhs of money, according to a TOI report. Reportedly, the man lives alone in Paldi’s Narayannagar area.
How Elderly Man in Ahmedabad Was Frauded?
The scammers targeted the man on November 24 last year, through a fake Facebook page that looked like the Bank of India’s official page. After he saw a post claiming pensioners could submit life certificates only without visiting a branch, the elderly man clicked on “Get in Touch” and entered his mobile number.
Soon after he gave his mobile number, he received a call from a man claiming to be from the mentioned bank. The man on the call said that he can help him submit his life certificate online.
As the process began, the man was asked to share his customer ID, debit card number and PIN. As he trusted the call, he shared all his details. Later, he also received WhatsApp video calls from another number, which had the bank’s logo as the profile picture.
The caller assured the elderly man that his life certificate would be updated within 24 to 48 hours. By the evening of that day, the man started to receive multiple SMS alerts, alerting him of fund transfers from his savings account.
Filed Complaint With Cybercrime, Investigation Underway
Before he could process and react on what’s happening, around Rs 17 lakh were deducted from his account through multiple transactions.
The complainant got suspicious and called the bank’s customer care and informed them about the matter. Then, he registered a complaint in 1930 and filed a formal complaint at the cybercrime helpline.
The police have now begun an investigation into the matter to nab the fraudsters. Moreover, they are also tracing the beneficiary accounts and the IP addresses linked to the Facebook page.
