Techie tops up OTT, finds Rs 99,000 swiped off

Trying to top up the annual Rs 999 subscription of an Over-The-Top (OTT) media service provider, a 28-year-old software engineer found Rs 99,287 swiped off from his account by cyber criminals.

In his January 12 complaint to the Whitefield CEN police, the techie Kumar (name changed) from Seegehalli near KR Puram stated that he subscribed to the OTT around 5.47 am on January 11 by paying Rs 999 via an online payment app. At 10.03 am, he found that the payment was unsuccessful. Kumar looked up the customer care number of the service on the internet and called the number he found.

The person who answered his call said he will send Kumar a link and asked him to fill in the details. Kumar received the link in the next few minutes and as instructed, he filled in the details, including his bank details. He then realised that Rs 99,287 had been taken away.

An investigating officer said police have taken up a case under cheating and the Information Technology Act and have launched a probe.