In another incident of cyber fraud, a 95-year-old retired banker and his 68-year-old son from Ghatkopar (West) were duped of Rs8.5 lakh after falling victim to a phishing scam involving a fake net banking activation link and a deceptive APK file. The Ghatkopar Police have registered a cyber fraud case against an unidentified individual under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Information Technology (IT) Act.
Victims From Ghatkopar (West) Trusted Fraudulent PNB Message
According to the FIR, the victim, Vijay Shantaram Bane, resides with his family in Jagdusha Nagar, Ghatkopar (West). His father, a retired Punjab National Bank (PNB) employee, receives a monthly pension in his PNB savings account. He had stopped visiting the bank due to old age. For the past two years, Vijay had been withdrawing money from his father's pension account using signed cheques.
Wanting to enable net banking for easier access, Vijay had been searching online for information over the past 15 days. On July 27 around 7 PM, he received a message on his phone from a number displaying the PNB logo, followed by a call from an individual posing as a bank representative.
The caller claimed to help activate net banking and sent a link to a form. Trusting the message, Vijay clicked on the link, which led to the download of an APK file (a type of Android app). He opened the app and attempted to fill in the required details. However, as he was unable to upload documents like an Aadhaar card, he left the process incomplete and turned off his phone.
Quick Action to Freeze Account and Report Crime
Two days later, on July 29 at around 9:30 AM, Vijay discovered that six unauthorized transactions had been made from his father's PNB pension account, totaling Rs8.5 lakh. He immediately visited the bank and had the account temporarily frozen. He then contacted the national cybercrime helpline (1930) and filed a formal complaint at the Ghatkopar Police Station.
FIR Registered Under BNS and IT Act Sections
Police have registered a case under sections 318(4), 319(2), and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with Section 66(D) of the Information Technology Act, against the unknown fraudster and related bank account holders involved in the scam.
Authorities are investigating the source of the fraudulent messages and the flow of stolen funds.
