Sr citizen loses Rs 1.8 L to OTP fraudster and T Nagar cyber cell retrieves Rs 59,000

The victim, a 63-year-old retired employee and resident of T Nagar, shared 14 OTPs to the fraudster believing that he is getting all his reward points for using his credit card into cash.

The incident happened on August 13, the police said. The victim received a phone call and the caller introduced himself as customer care executive of the private bank from where the victim’s credit was issued. When the caller told the senior citizen that he has a lot of reward points going to waste and offered to convert it into cash, the victim believed him. He did not think twice to share the credentials of the said credit card and OTPs which he received on his mobile phone.

After reaching the credit card limit, the fraudster asked the victim to share the details for another car to disburse the amount to all his accounts. Thus, the victim lost money from multiple accounts to the tune of Rs 1.8 lakh.

The victim, who realised that money from his bank accounts were swindled, approached the cyber cell of T Nagar police district immediately. The police acted swiftly and contacted respective banks and tried to stop the transactions as the money was transferred and not used for online purchase.

The T Nagar Cyber Crime police successfully recovered Rs 59,000 and efforts are on to retrieve the remaining sum. A senior official requested residents in and around T Nagar to contact 63831 00100 for cyberspace related offences.

The Tamil Nadu police, for its part, had recently warned people of SMSes with links promising to provide information on COVID-19 tests or seeking donations and also any calls demanding to know OTP and personal credentials. This came after the cyber wing received information that some fake messages were doing the rounds with links seeking to donate to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.