Ahmedabad: Shahpur man loses Rs 3.3 lakh in fake bank call scam

Ahmedabad: A 48-year-old Shahpur resident was allegedly defrauded of Rs 3.3 lakh by cyber criminals posing as Punjab National Bank officials who enticed him with promises of enhanced credit card benefits and higher spending limits.

According to a complaint lodged with Shahpur police, the complainant Yash Shah (48) received a call on April 16 from a man claiming to be a bank representative. The caller allegedly informed him about a “special offer” on his credit cards and asked him to keep photographs of the cards saved in his mobile gallery for verification purposes.

Later in the evening, the caller again contacted the victim and claimed that his credit card limits could be enhanced. The fraudster then sent a link through SMS and a file via WhatsApp, asking the victim to open them while keeping the phone call active for nearly 30 minutes.

Police said during this period, the accused allegedly gained access to the victim’s credit card details and carried out several unauthorized online transactions. The fraudsters siphoned off Rs 1.05 lakh from an ICICI Bank credit card, Rs 82,037 from an RBL Bank card and Rs 1.39 lakh from an HDFC Bank credit card, taking the total amount to Rs 3.27 lakh.

Following the complaint, Shahpur police on Saturday registered a case of cheating and criminal breach of trust under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita along with provisions of the Information Technology Act.