Virologist falls for virus attack on debit card line, loses Rs 1 lakh

BENGALURU: The message was terse and a touch ironic since it was delivered to a virologist. “Your debit card attacked by virus,” the caller said and that was enough for the veteran virologist to fall prey to a vishing scam in which he lost over Rs 1 lakh from his Citibank account. A week ago, the virologist approached cybercrime police who have launched an investigation.

The victim of the bankcard fraud is an octogenarian and a well-known name in the city in the field of pathology. He is active in several top medical forums across the country. His ordeal began with the message on October 4.

Police said the virology expert received a call on his cellphone from a man identifying himself as Rajkumar Varma, a staffer with the bank. Winning the doctor’s trust by mentioning some of his personal details, the con artiste told the doctor that his bankcard was under attack by a virus and it needed immediate fixing to ensure he doesn’t lose money to fraudsters.

Taking the caller for real, the virologist parted with his card details, including the CVV number and the OTPs generated, helping the fraudster to make multiple money transfers from his bank account. When it finally dawned on the doctor that he was the victim of a vishing scam, he had lost Rs 1,08,988.

A resident of Jayanagar, the doctor filed a complaint with Citibank. As part of the bank’s probe into the cheating, the octogenarian approached the cybercrime police station at the commissionerate on November 5 and lodged a complaint. When contacted, he refused to speak on the matter, only saying Citibank has given him an interim refund and a probe is underway.

According to Na. Vijayashankar, a cyber-security consultant, the system used by most banks to manage digital technology is insecure. “Banks should be held completely responsible in such cases,” Vijayshankar said. “One needs to question how a fraudster obtained confidential details of the customer, which the fraudster used to target him.”

Vijayshankar said in most cases, the customer is blamed for ignorance and banks shy away from owning up to security flaws. “Police never name banks for abetment in the FIR,” he added.