Mumbai: Two fall prey to phone banking fraud

Dhannappa Erappa Koshti (55), a personal assistant to a judge of the Bombay High Court, gave away his OTP after a caller asked him for his debit card details on the pretext of linking his Aadhaar card to his bank account.

The cases have been registered on charges of cheating under IPC and Information Technology Act. (Representational Image)

THE BHOIWADA police has registered two cases of bank fraud, in which a doctor from KEM hospital and a personal assistant to a judge of the Bombay High Court have fallen prey to fraudsters.

Ankita Kulkarni, a 27-year-old paediatrician with KEM hospital, received a call on October 23 from a person who identified himself as Vikas. He claimed that he was from the State Bank of India and was calling to verify Kulkarni’s credit card details. “The complainant had recently got a credit card. When she received the call, believing that it was an SBI official on the other end, she gave away her card details,” said an officer from Bhoiwada police.

In her statement to the police, Kulkarni said: “The caller claimed that I could avail 19,500 shopping points and asked whether I would want to encash it or use it for shopping. When I said that I would want cash instead of shopping points, he asked for my card details.” Kulkarni claimed that she didn’t give away the OTP generated on her cellphone number at that point. “A few minutes after she disconnected the call, she received a message that valuables worth Rs 19,500 have been bought using her credit card. When she tried reaching the caller, the number appeared to be out of service. We believe that the caller must have shopped using her CVV number,” said an officer. Kulkarni then reached the police station and got a case registered.

In a similar case, Dhannappa Erappa Koshti (55), a personal assistant to a judge of the Bombay High Court, gave away his OTP after a caller asked him for his debit card details on the pretext of linking his Aadhaar card to his bank account. Koshti, who stays in Naigaon, Parel, in his statement to the police said: “On October 24, I received a call around 9.30 am… the caller claimed that my debit card wasn’t linked to my Aadhaar card. He said if I failed to link my card, my debit card would be blocked.”

“After dictating my 16-digit card number and CVV, an OTP was generated on my number. As soon as I gave him the OTP, two transactions worth Rs 19,999 and Rs 3,999 were made,” the complainant said in his statement. Later, when Koshti tried to call the alleged fraudster, he found the number to be switched off. “Both complaints were registered on October 25,” said an officer.

The cases have been registered on charges of cheating under IPC and Information Technology Act.

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