Online fraudsters target customers of merged banks

Online fraudsters stole money from the customer of a merged nationalised bank, saying the bank is issuing a new checkbook, passbook, and debit card.

In her complaint to the West CEN crime police station, M Devika, 52, from Vijayanagar, an accountant in a private firm, has stated that she held an account with Vijaya Bank that merged with Bank of Baroda.

On October 27, Devika received a call from an unknown individual identifying himself as the bank’s employee. The man said the bank was issuing a new checkbook, passbook and debit card following the banks’ merger.

“The fraudster asked me to share the One-Time Password (OTP) so that he can raise a request for the items. When I asked why I should share the OTP, he said it’s their procedure,” Devika said.

The moment she shared the OTP, she received a message saying money has been debited from her account. “The caller said they’re transferring the money from Vijaya Bank to Bank of Baroda. I believed him and shared several OTPs that day and lost Rs 95,545 in multiple transactions,” she said.

When the fraudster asked her to share the OTP one more time, she refused and said she would visit the bank or complain to the RBI. The fraudster kept calling her till October 29. “I checked with the bank and they told me it was a fraud call,” she said. Devika alleged that police made her run around and took three days to register the FIR.