Techie pays on unsecured app, finds money stolen

A 29-year-old female techie had Rs 45,000 taken from her bank account while her colleague lost Rs 40,000 in two separate incidents.

Both made online payments on an unsecured mobile app. The duo has now complained to the cyber crime police, who registered FIRs and launched investigations.

Kundalahalli (ITPL, East Bengaluru) resident Kavya Prabha (name changed), employed with an MNC in Whitefield, has her wedding scheduled for next month. She wired Rs 2 lakh to her father and had Rs 45,000 in her account. She thought of shopping with the money before leaving for her wedding.

But at 2 am Sunday, the Rs 45,000 vanished from her account and she had no message alerts from her bank.

Prabha became aware of the theft when a person claiming to be a bank executive called her to confirm whether she made the transaction. “The whole month’s savings has gone and now I’m left with just Rs 30 in my bank account,” she stated in her complaint.

Prabha learnt that her male colleague had also lost money from his account, after having used a random mobile app not secure to make payments. He apparently lost Rs 40,844. The duo then filed complaints with the cyber crime police.

Unsecured mobile payment apps, widely available as easy payment modes, have become a big concern since users will not be able to tell them apart from the secure ones, a senior police official said.