It has been a bad turn of events for a Mumbai based Rakesh Ojha, who owns a Hearing Aid manufacturing company in Andheri. The man has become a victim of Cyber Crime and thus, he lost a whopping sum of Rs. 13 lakhs.
It so happened that Rakesh’s registered mobile number was cancelled by SIM Swap swindlers who then later reactivated it using a new SIM for hacking his Online Net Banking.
The Cyber Criminals claimed that the SIM was lost after deactivating his number. Just in an hour, they made use of a new SIM card which was of the same number for generating OTP (one-time password).
Rs. 13 Lakhs were transferred in a single RTGS (Real Time Gross Settlement) to an account in Lucknow from Ojha’s nationalized bank account. This all happened on 6th July when the victim was busy in a meeting. Hence, he ignored a message alert regarding the bank transfer. The message came at about 2:15 pm from for the process of verification from MSP (Mobile Service Provider).
After a complaint was registered, the investigating officers have explained the fraudsters’ modus operandi:
“The fraudsters logged on to Ojha’s bank account and transferred Rs 13 lakh seconds after the new SIM was activated around 4.15pm. Around 4.30pm, the money was deposited in one Nirmala Mishra’s account in Lucknow. The account was opened with fake documents. Even the Lucknow bank did not verify the person’s identity before clearing the cheques.”
Suyash, son of Ojha spoke to news platforms:
My father checked his phone around 5.30pm and found that the SIM was not working. He called the customer care number and requested that the service be reactivated. Around 6pm, the bank manager called and asked my father the reason for transferring such a huge sum to a Lucknow account.
A search operation has been initiated by cops to look for the involved accused.
Be alert and save yourself from becoming a victim of such frauds!
