They manipulated him into downloading an app to address the issue, ultimately securing loans totalling Rs 7.5 lakh in his name within a mere 10 minutes.
A 26-YEAR-old marketing executive, reaching out to a private bank via X (formerly Twitter) for assistance with a technical issue in his bank account, fell prey to cybercriminals.
The online scamsters used a fake X account resembling that of the private sector bank, gaining remote access to the victim’s phone. They manipulated him into downloading an app to address the issue, ultimately securing loans totalling Rs 7.5 lakh in his name within a mere 10 minutes.
A First Information Report in the case was registered earlier this week at Pimpri police station by the 26-year-old man who works as a marketing executive with a Talawade-based engineering company.
The complainant was trying to open a digital salary account in a private sector bank and was facing technical difficulties in doing so. Around 11 am on October 4, he used his X (Twitter) account to tweet to the private sector bank seeking help on the technical issue he was facing.
Few minutes later, he received a direct message on his account from an account that asked him to call a cellphone number they claimed to be the direct helpline number of the bank. When the complainant called the number, the person at the other end asked him to download an application on his phone. Later the complainant was asked to share some of his documents and bank details on the application.
An officer from the police station said, “The probe has revealed that the application that the complainant was asked to download was a remote access tool. The cyber criminals gained access to his bank account through this app and secured two loans totalling Rs 7.5 lakh against the debit card from his other account in another private bank. He received messages in this regard and got to know that the fraudsters had secured loans in his name and had swindled the money. After he approached the police station, an FIR was registered and a probe was launched.”
INDIAN TIMES
