Mumbai cops block Rs 4.65 crore out of Rs 7.5 crore lost by firm owner in cyber fraud

Acting swiftly, police managed to freeze a sum of Rs 4.65 crore, out of Rs 7.5 crore lost by the Mumbai-based owner of a private company in a cyber fraud, officials said on Tuesday.

The private firm owner was duped for Rs 7.5 crore by cyber fraudsters in a SIM swipe fraud, a form of identity theft, at suburban Kandivali on Monday, they said.

The scamsters got the access of the company's bank account with the help of SIM swipe and made multiple unauthorised transactions, an official said, adding the money was then transferred to various bank accounts in a span of a few minutes.

On realising he has been cheated, the company owner dialled 1930 cyber helpline and narrated the incident. The victim also sent an email giving details about the unauthorised transactions, he said.

Officials of cyber crime branch immediately contacted the nodal officer of the bank concerned and also put the complaint on the NCCRP (National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal) simultaneously.

The cyber police team managed to freeze Rs 4.65 crore out of the total amount lost by the victim within four hours of the fraud. However, most of the remaining amount was withdrawn by the fraudsters, he said.

In a SIM swap fraud, scammers trick the network provider into linking the mobile phone number of their target to the SIM card they have in possession and access to OTPs sent by the bank to the genuine person.

It is a form of account takeover where cyber crooks gain access to a victim's phone number. This allows them to assume control over the victim's mobile identity, enabling unauthorized access to personal online accounts linked to the number.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)