Cyber fraudsters steal Rs 1 lakh in Bengaluru

In Bengaluru, a 47-year-old man was tricked out of Rs 1 lakh by cyber fraudsters pretending to be staff from the State Bank of India (SBI). The victim, Motilal, works at a textile store and was targeted through a phone call. On March 17, Motilal received a call from someone claiming to be an SBI credit card executive named Manoj Yadav. The caller told him that an unwanted insurance policy had been added to his account, which would cost Rs 2,900. Motilal, who had only gotten his credit card two months earlier, insisted he did not want the insurance. The caller said he could cancel the insurance but needed Motilal to click a link that would be sent to him. Motilal received the link via WhatsApp and clicked it. Soon after, his phone was compromised. He was unable to use any apps or receive messages. Realizing he had been scammed, he called the bank's customer service to block his credit card. When he checked later, Motilal found that almost Rs 100,000 had been stolen from his account by the fraudsters, who managed to redirect one-time passwords (OTPs) to complete their transactions. The police have now opened an investigation into the case, working to determine how the scam artists accessed Motilal's credit card information.