Mumbai: A 50-year-old govt staffer recently discovered that an online loan of Rs 12.3 lakh was fraudulently taken via his bank account, resulting in loan instalments getting auto deducted.He lodged a complaint with cyber police, recounting “strange incidents” that occurred before the fraud. The complainant works at Government Central Press in south Mumbai. In 2022, he took a personal loan of Rs 3 lakh from a private bank and a monthly instalment of Rs 7,687 would get auto deducted from his bank account. On July 2, one Vedprakash Sharma, claiming to be a bank officer, made a WhatsApp video call and told him that his KYC hadn’t been updated. He said the complainant’s ATM card had been blocked, and asked him to look into the camera—showing his front and side profiles—saying he needed to take a “retina scan” for the KYC updation. The next day, the complainant tried to withdraw money from an ATM but was unsuccessful. He dialled Sharma who gave him a temporary PIN. He was able to withdraw money using this PIN. On Aug 5, the complainant was at a conference in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar when he got a text about Rs 46,235 getting deducted from his bank account. He failed to understand why such a large sum had been deducted when his EMI was low. He discussed the issue with a bank representative who asked him to check the bank’s app. The app showed a top-up loan of Rs 12.3 lakh was taken online via his bank account and EMIs were getting auto deducted. On his return to Mumbai, the complainant rushed to the bank and learnt that the top-up loan was taken on July 5 and the amount disbursed was quickly transferred to multiple accounts. He also found that his phone number in the bank’s records was incorrect. The FIR filed with south region cyber police says fraudsters could have got the phone number changed in the records and applied for the top-up loan.
