The Biggest Cyber Fraud: Man Loses ₹50 Lakh By Missed Calls, OTP Wasn’t Asked

Cyber crimes and frauds are rapidly increasing day by day with advancements in technology. Every other day we hear someone lose all of their money as a result of cybercrime and something like that happened again.

A recent incident that took place in Delhi can be termed one of the biggest cyber frauds. As per the Investigations, the mastermind behind this cyber fraud is Jamtara which is situated in the tribal district of Jharkhand. In case you don’t know that place is marked as the hub of cybercrime.

However, Jamtara has once known social reformer Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar’s contribution to educating the tribal girls. In Delhi, a group allegedly conned the director of a security services firm of Rs 50 lakh through a fraudulent transfer from his bank account

According to the reports, the cyber thieves managed to transfer Rs 50 lakh without even asking for a one-time password (OTP). The criminal transaction was made by repeatedly giving him missed calls on his

What exactly happened?

The incident took place on October 19, reportedly. On the day, the victim’s phone was flooded with missed calls from unknown numbers between 7 pm and 8:45 pm. He picks up a few calls but ignored the others.

The victim got traumatized when he checked his phone later. He found transactions worth Rs. 50 lakhs through RTGS (Real Time Gross Settlement). Several RTGS transactions worth over Rs 50 lakh were made from the current account of the man’s company, reported by TOI.

The investigation revealed that the amount was sent to separate accounts. Rs. 12 lakhs were transferred to one Bhaskar Mandal’s account and Rs. 4.6 lakh went to one Avijit Giri. Also, an amount of Rs. 10 lakhs went to two separate accounts.

What did the investigation suggest?

The police revealed that the cybercrime was carried out without needing the OTP. It was reported that the accused might have used the “SIM Swapping” technique.  Another officer was of opinion that the cybercriminals might have overheard the OTP being said via IVR through a parallel call.

Reports also suggest that the recipients of the money could be just the account holders who have given their accounts on rent to the thieves.

What is SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) Swapping?

With SIM Swapping cybercriminals can get access to a customer’s SIM card and also gain access to a duplicate SIM card with the number registered with the customer’s bank account.

To initiate unauthorized transactions these people, use the OTP received on such duplicate SIM. Fraudsters generally pose as telephone / mobile network staff to collect personal details from the customer. They get information in the name of offers like providing a free upgrade of SIM card from 3G to 4G or providing additional benefits on the SIM card.

 Prevention from such cyber crimes

Never share your identity details related to your SIM card.

If you notice that there is no mobile network for a long period even when you are in a stable and normal environment, contact the mobile operator and make sure that no one has made a duplicate SIM card of your mobile number.

In 2020, the popular web series ‘Jamtara’ was released based on cybercrimes on a large scale here. However, measures have been taken to prevent cyber fraud. A cyber police station was set up in the area in 2018.  Hundreds of cybercriminals have been arrested by the police, the crimes are still rapidly increasing.

They start their operations as soon as they are out on bail. Cybercrimes have reached such a level in the past six to seven years that police officers from different states had to visit the place in search of criminals related to cybercrime cases.