Fort Businessman Loses 1.7cr in SIM Card Swap Fraud, Man Detained from Bengal | Bombay News
Mumbai: Class XII school dropout from West Bengal arrested after he and associates illegally swapped city businessman SIM card and transferred Rs 1.7 crore via netbanking to various accounts overnight.
Prodyut Mitra, 34, is one of the main defendants. “The money was transferred to 15 different accounts. One of them belongs to Mitra and Rs 25 lakh has been transferred there,” said a Cyber Police official in the southern region.
Recently, the 75-year-old Fort resident, who is in commerce and finance, found his SIM card blocked without his knowledge/permission. The next morning, he went to the telecommunications store and got a new card issued. At this point, one of his employees told him that Rs 1.7 crore had been transferred from six corporate accounts to different accounts in the meantime. The six accounts of a nationalized bank were linked to the mobile number which had been blocked. On his complaint, an FIR was registered for cheating under IPC and relevant sections of the Information Technology Act.
“During the investigation, we managed to block Rs 50 lakh and it is in the process of being returned,” the inspector said Sharmila Sahasrabudhe. “The 15 accounts where the money was transferred have been frozen,” said PSI Prakash Gawli. Mitra provided the bank accounts to be used for a 1% commission, police said.
This is a SIM card swap fraud, an officer said. The defendant had called the telephone company’s customer service, blocked the businessman‘s SIM card and got a new card issued for himself in West Bengal. A team including Inspector Mohini Lokhande, Gawli and others caught Mitra from West Bengal.
Hemrajsingh Rajput, DCP (Cyber), said, “Two-step verification should be retained for all bank accounts. Set a higher withdrawal limit. If your SIM card does not work, immediately change the netbanking password and ask the bank to stop all transactions. Always keep a PIN code to use when installing the SIM card in the phone”.
Prodyut Mitra, 34, is one of the main defendants. “The money was transferred to 15 different accounts. One of them belongs to Mitra and Rs 25 lakh has been transferred there,” said a Cyber Police official in the southern region.
Recently, the 75-year-old Fort resident, who is in commerce and finance, found his SIM card blocked without his knowledge/permission. The next morning, he went to the telecommunications store and got a new card issued. At this point, one of his employees told him that Rs 1.7 crore had been transferred from six corporate accounts to different accounts in the meantime. The six accounts of a nationalized bank were linked to the mobile number which had been blocked. On his complaint, an FIR was registered for cheating under IPC and relevant sections of the Information Technology Act.
“During the investigation, we managed to block Rs 50 lakh and it is in the process of being returned,” the inspector said Sharmila Sahasrabudhe. “The 15 accounts where the money was transferred have been frozen,” said PSI Prakash Gawli. Mitra provided the bank accounts to be used for a 1% commission, police said.
This is a SIM card swap fraud, an officer said. The defendant had called the telephone company’s customer service, blocked the businessman‘s SIM card and got a new card issued for himself in West Bengal. A team including Inspector Mohini Lokhande, Gawli and others caught Mitra from West Bengal.
Hemrajsingh Rajput, DCP (Cyber), said, “Two-step verification should be retained for all bank accounts. Set a higher withdrawal limit. If your SIM card does not work, immediately change the netbanking password and ask the bank to stop all transactions. Always keep a PIN code to use when installing the SIM card in the phone”.