Credit card fraud crosses boundaries

Child specialist Zahir Hasan had never travelled abroad. Nor had he ever ordered anything online. But the Patna-based doctor was aghast to find out that he lost Rs 1 lakh through fraudulent transactions on his credit card in three European countries, France, Switzerland and Denmark, in a single day.

Strangely enough, the doctor was in possession of his credit card issued by the State Bank of India all along.

Hasan works at Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Science (IGIMS) here. He came to know about the fraud after he received three SMS alerts stating that Rs 1 lakh - Rs 88,000 in Denmark, Rs 8,000 in France and Rs 4,000 in Switzerland - had been transacted online. A flabbergasted Hasan rushed to the SBI branch on IGIMS campus and asked bank officials to somehow stop the transactions. He also lodged an FIR with the Shastrinagar police against unknown miscreants.

Vidyasagar, Station House officer (SHO), Shastrinagar police station, confirmed that a case has been registered. “These days fraudsters randomly choose victims and call them posing as bank executives offering updates and new offers on their existing credit and debit cards. The victims, in good faith, give their confidential bank details and the perpetrators use them to swindle money,” said a policeman posted at the cyber crime cell here.

Police sources said apart from withdrawing money, the fraudsters had used the credit card to book air tickets and get mobile recharge.  City SP of Patna, Jayant Kant, said: “We are seeking assistance of the cyber cell of the economic offences wing in this case.”