Thane man loses Rs 9.5 lakh in online banking fraud

An unidentified fraudster allegedly withdrew Rs 9.53 lakh from the bank account of a 53-year-old man after asking him to download an app on his mobile phone and share confidential information here in Maharashtra, police said on Monday. The victim, a resident of Badlapur area who was working in a private company after retiring from the Navy, informed the police that as his mobile app of a nationalised bank was not working, he got in touch with its customer care desk and informed about the issue on January 23.

He then got a call back from a person posing as a customer service cell executive and asked the man to download the ‘AnyDesk’ app, an official from Badlapur (West) police station said. The caller gave certain instructions to the man and also sought some information about his bank account. He later told the man that his user ID and password were changed and he could use the app.

However, on January 24, the man got a message from the bank that his mobile number registered for the account was changed. The man was surprised and when he went to the bank to enquire about it, he was informed that a sum of Rs 9,53,363 was transferred from his account to another account, the official said. The victim later filed a police complaint. The police on Sunday registered a case against the unidentified culprit under Indian Penal Code Section 420 (cheating) and provisions of the Information Technology Act, the official added.