Pune: Ex-family court superintendent loses Rs 1.2 lakh in debit card fraud

PUNE: A retired woman superintendent (58) of the family court was duped of over Rs 1.24 lakh by a cyber fraudster, who impersonated as a bank officer and sought details of her debit card for keeping it active on January 15.

The woman divulged vital details of her card to him in good faith. Investigations revealed that the fraudster had used Unified Payment Interface App for transferring her money in nine transactions.

The woman lodged an FIR against one Deepak Sharma with the Kondhwa police on Wednesday under the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act.

Her complaint stated, “I received a call from the fraudster, Sharma, impersonating as an official of a public sector bank. He gave details of my account and debit card number, saying my card would be deactivated. He told me that he would send one-time password (OTP) on my cellphone number and requested me to share it with him for getting my card activated.”

The FIR stated, “I received OTP numbers thrice and shared them with the crook when he contacted her. Later, I received three text messages — two about Rs9,000 and one of Rs5,000 — being debited from my bank account at Wanowrie. I contacted the fraudster and sought reasons why the money was transferred. He said that it would be reimbursed... but nothing happened.”

Police said the panicked woman then rushed to the bank to freeze her account. In the melee, the fraudster made six more transactions. A total of Rs1,24,992 was withdrawn from her account.

The retired officer said, “I filed a complaint at the cybercrime cell the same day to institute an inquiry. The cell conducted a preliminary inquiry and referred the matter to the Kondhwa police.” Sub-inspector Ankush Karche said, “The incident occurred because the complainant had revealed her card details. The fraudster used Unified Payment Interface app for transferring the money from her account.”