A city-based textile merchant lost at least Rs 1.86 crore illegally transferred from his account by unidentified persons to bank accounts across the country in a case of SIM swap fraud, police said on Wednesday.

An official said the fraudsters had cloned the businessman’s SIM card.

The fraud came to light when the victim, who is from Mahim in central Mumbai, approached the BKC cyber police station with a complaint on Friday.

According to the complaint, on Thursday night, the textile merchant’s cellphone had stopped functioning after some missed calls, the official said.

The next morning he found that his bank account, which was with a co-operative bank and whose details were linked to his mobile phone, had been almost emptied during the night.

At least Rs 1.86 crore was fraudulently transferred from his account through RTGS/NEFT (electronic fund transfer systems) by unidentified persons to 24 accounts of various banks in Delhi, Bengal, Jharkhand and some northern states, the official said.

The businessman rushed to his bank and tried to stop the fraudulent transfers, the official said, adding the bank managed to bring back Rs 20 lakh and was also able to freeze some more amounts.

A complaint has been lodged against unidentified persons under the relevant penal code sections and the Information Technology Act, he said.

The police suspect the accused got access to the businessman’s unique SIM number and initiated a SIM swap and then moved his money to other bank accounts through multiple transactions.