A Calcuttan who received a call from a man claiming to be a representative of an e-wallet company was duped out of his money after he shared with the caller an OTP sent to his phone, ostensibly to stop a fraudulent transaction from his account.
Police said the complainant, who received a call from an unknown number on July 10, was asked if he was trying to make a payment of around Rs 30,000 from his e-wallet account.
“Alarmed, the man denied having initiated any such transaction. The caller said he would stop the transaction, but for that he would need an OTP that would be sent to the account holder’s phone. The man shared the OTP thinking it would stop the fraudulent transaction. But the moment he shared the OTP, Rs 30,000 was debited from his account,” said an officer of the cybercrime cell of the east division of Calcutta police.
The man realised he had been duped and lodged a police complaint.
The police said they managed to prevent the amount from being withdrawn or transferred from the beneficiary account.“The money has been reverted to the complainant’s bank account,” the officer said.
Several Calcuttans are duped in a similar way after they are convinced to share OTPs sent to their phones or made to click on links sent to them.
“It is advisable not to entertain calls from unknown numbers if the callers claim to be representatives of your bank or any e-wallet service. And never ever share any passcode or OTP sent to your phone,” said an officer in the city police headquarters in Lalbazar.
The officer said the complainant had reported the matter to the police immediately after realising the fraud, which gave the investigators time to recover the money.
“In case of any delay in reporting an online fraud, the money is transferred through multiple e-wallets and bank accounts and is often withdrawn through an ATM. Once the money is withdrawn, it becomes difficult to recover it till the accused are arrested,” the officer said.
Fake call centres target Australians
Fifteen persons have been arrested on Monday for allegedly running two call centres in separate buildings at Sahid Nagar in Garfa that allegedly targeted Australian nationals by posing as representatives of an e-commerce giant. Police raided the two locations in Sahid Nagar -- 2/30 and 4/17A -- and arrested 15 persons. "From both offices, the accused persons were making calls to citizens of Australia posing as employees of an e-commerce giant and other agencies," said an officer in Lalbazar.