Rs 1.86 Crore Robbed Via 6 Missed Calls From This Entrepreneur’s Bank Account: How This Happened?
Since every bank account is now linked with a phone number, such frauds are now increasing.
Imagine your bank account getting robbed after you received missed calls at night.
Yes, this is a possibility, as this has actually happened, in Mumbai.
Rs 1.86 crore was siphoned-off from a businessman’s bank account after he received 6 missed called.
How did this happen?
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Bank Robbery Via 6 Missed Calls
A businessman, who identified himself as V Shah from Mahim, Mumbai, reported that he lost Rs 1.86 crore, via Missed calls scam.
In the night of December 27-28, he received thee 6 missed calls from Indian and UK (+44 code), between 11 PM and 2 AM.
When he got up in the morning, and he tried to call these numbers, he found that his SIM has been deactivated.
Sensing trouble, he checked his bank account and was horrified to know that Rs 1.86 crore has been robbed. The scamsters had siphoned-off the money via 28 transactions, across 14 bank accounts.
The police were able to recover Rs 20 lakh, but rest all has been withdrawn, and bank accounts closed. There is no trace of anyone now.
BKC Cyber Crime Police Station has filed the case under Indian Penal Code sections 420 (cheating), 419 (impersonation) and 34 (criminal act done by several people in furtherance of common intention) and sections 43 (damage to computer system and 66D (impersonation) of the Information Technology Act.
Shah said, “My company’s bank account is linked to my mobile phone, but never in my wildest of dreams did I imagine that the cheats will empty out my account with such ridiculous ease,”
The Modus Operandi: SIM Swap
The scamsters have again used SIM Swap method to gain control over the businessman’s bank account, and then robbed him.
As per police officials from BKC Cyber Crime Police Station, fraudsters had somehow gained access to the SIM number of V Shah, which is printed on the backside of the SIM.
Using that, they duplicated the SIM card, and deactivated his original SIM.
Once this was done, stealing money was a cakewalk: They initiated the transfer of money, and for that, only OTPis required, which they had.
Why Missed Calls?
Because by giving missed calls, the robbers assured V Shah that his number is working, and nothing shady is happening.
As per the police, his telecom operator received the request to duplicate SIM at 11.30 PM, and it takes around 4 hours to duplicate the SIM, and deactivate the old SIM.
The missed calls were given to assure the victim that everything is fine.
Possible Method To Get SIM Number?
As per the initial investigation, it seems that Mr. Shah had accessed any fraud app or website of a bank, which pulled out details about his SIM card number, and bank account details.
Just by duplicating a SIM, these fraudsters couldnt have withdrawn cash from his bank account, as they needed to transfer the money to any other bank account first.
A police officer said, “Even when you happen to open a fake version of your bank website, your details are automatically compromised. Your data is accessed by scamsters every time you access unsecured Web connections, or open phishing emails. We suspect Shah may have accessed one such email or app,”
Other possibility can be that a person close to V Shah stole the number, and then collaborated with the fraudsters to scam him.
SIM Swapping Scams Are Rising
This robbery of Rs 1.86 crore is indeed big, but its not the first off case.
Last month we had reported how Rs 6.8 lakh was robbed via SIM Swap, and that time, UPI was used to siphon-off money.
In the month of November, Rs 93 lakh was stolen via cloning Airtel SIM, and the police are still searching for the fraudsters.
As every bank account is now linked with a mobile number, SIM swapping seems the most easiest way to hack into any bank account, and steal the money.
We will keep you updated, as more details come in.
