Former DG-IGP successfully recovers Rs 89,000 lost to online fraud

Bengaluru: Former DG-IGP of Karnataka Shankar M Bidari has got back the money he lost to cyber fraud in the second week of October.

The former top cop fell prey to a phishing scam and lost Rs 89,000 after he shared his bank account details with the scammers.

According to the complaint filed by Shankar M Bidari, with the southeast cyber crime police on October 11, he had received a message on his phone instructing him to update his Know Your Customer (KYC) details. He was getting ready to leave for Dubai and was distracted when the call was received, reports said.

The caller also offered to help him update the details if he shared the OTP. In a hurry, he disclosed the details and also shared the OTP, which is a strict no-no. Only after giving the security OTP that Bidari had realized that Rs 89,000 was siphoned off his bank account.

Cyber experts and banks caution customers not to share OTP with anyone, even if it’s a call from the bank. OTP is the last line of defense against cyber fraud.

The former cop was quick enough to realize his mistake and raise a complaint with the bank and the cyber police.

Bidari told that the caller was convincing and sounded like he was from the bank. “It was when he said that the payment was to be made to Flipkart that I got suspicious and checked my phone. I knew that I had been cheated. I threatened him that if he didn’t return my money, I would go to any extent to expose him and get him caught,” he was quoted as saying by DH Metrolife.

Soon, the fraud, calling from West Bengal, confessed to the crime and returned the money.