Driver swaps SIM in car, robs elderly woman of Rs 3.45 lakh

A driver from Mandya has been arrested by the city police for SIM swapping and siphoning money from a woman's bank account. The arrested is Prakash G B, 31, a resident of Gunnanayakanahalli in Mandya. He works for a private company providing
on-demand driver services. The victim is Vimala S Itagi of Yelahanka.

According to a complaint filed by her son Harish S Itagi, Vimala lost Rs 3.45 lakh in UPI transactions between May 8 and May 14. She had not made any transactions in this period.

Inspector Santosh Ram R and his team zeroed on some clues at the bank and traced Prakash, a college drop-out.

On May 8, Vimala had hired Prakash to drive her to a relative's house. On the way, she asked him to stop at a restaurant. She left her mobile in the car as she stepped out to eat. Prakash allegedly took out her SIM card and replaced it with a deactivated SIM card.

Later in the evening, when Vimala tried to make a call, she got an automated message that the SIM had been deactivated. However, she didn't realise her SIM had been swapped. On May 14, when she got a new SIM with the same number, Vimala received multiple messages about UPI transactions she had not done. She told her son about it the same day, he then filed a police complaint.

Police said though Prakash didn’t have a phone, he had bought a SIM card and would use it on phones belonging to his sister, brother-in-law and other family members to make calls. That was when he realised he could make digital transactions using OTPs (one-time passwords) if a SIM card was linked to a bank account.

When Vimala left her phone behind, Prakash stole her SIM card and put it into his mobile. He used an app and allegedly transferred Rs 5,000 to his account. The next day he transferred Rs 1 lakh, police said.

Police have seized Rs 1.3 lakh from his bank account, a scooter and mobile phone he had allegedly bought with the stolen money. They have also seized two more mobiles and three SIM cards from him. Police said Prakash confessed that this was his first crime.

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'Don't leave phone unattended'

DCP (North-East) Anoop A Shetty said money could be transferred out of a bank account by any unauthorised user who gets hold of a SIM card linked to a bank account. "People should not hand their phones to others or even leave them lying around," he said, adding that don’t delay getting a new SIM if you loose your SIM under the assumption that digital and banking applications are locked.

"In case a mobile phone goes missing, people should immediately contact their bank and block their linked accounts till they get a new SIM card and phone", Anoop said.