Mahajan and Dhillon are not the only two victims of phishing, with cases growing at a concerning rate in Chandigarh. Hira Lal Mahajan, a 57-year-old hotelier, was sitting in his office in December last year when he received a call on his smartphone, where he was asked to update his Know Your Customer (KYC) details to avoid termination of his HDFC bank account. Mahajan agreed to do so and clicked on the link the caller sent him to update his KYC.
He was then asked to share three OTPs he received. When he did share the passwords, Rs 9.99 lakh was transferred from his account in three separate transactions.
Jagbir Singh Dhillon, a 75-year-old retired commandant from Border Security Force (BSF), was duped for Rs 9.99 lakh in the same modus operandi just a few days later. He received a call, where he was asked to update his KYC information to avoid termination of Airtel SIM linked to his bank account. However, in this incident, the caller made Dhillon download and use ‘Anydesk’, an app that allows another user to see and interact with another computer system over the Internet. The caller used the app to acquire Dhillon’s bank details.
Mahajan and Dhillon are not the only two victims of phishing, with cases growing at a concerning rate in Chandigarh.
Citizens over the age of 50 seem to be the prime targets as most of them are not tech-savvy and vulnerable to a subtle threat of the termination of a particular service.
“People between 50 and 75 years, are most prone to this nature of cybercrimes. We observed online fraudsters deliberately target people of this age group. Apart from them, illiterate and less educated people who lack the knowledge to use their smartphones are also prime targets,” Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) (cyber) Rashmi Yadav Sharma, said.
Another resident of Sector 18 lost Rs 10 lakh in February last year after she was asked to share her OTP and credit card PIN.
“There are many reasons behind why people, especially those 50 and 75 years are the most vulnerable. They are close to the retirement age, are not tech-savvy and lack the knowledge about what to share about their bank details; It is good that senior citizens are adopting the digital methods of money transactions but they need to be sensitised about digital modes of transactions”, RK Garg, president of Second Innings Association, said.
The association had recently held an awareness workshop for senior citizens along with the UT cyber cell to make the audience aware of various types of cybercrimes and what one can do to avoid falling prey to phishing.
At least 394 cybercrime complaints a of total 1,286 received at the Cyber Crime Cell between January 1 and March 24 were related to fraudulent transactions where the complainants were asked to share their debit/credit card details and PIN.
“Our big worry is the financial frauds that have been increasing each passing day. And this nature of crime will increase in the future as more and more people are starting to rely on online transactions and banking without adopting the necessary safeguards”, DSP (cyber) Rashmi Yadav Sharma, said.
How you can save from phishing
Here are some suggestions from the Cyber Cell faculty head in Central Detectie Training School (CDTS), Sector 36,
Gurcharan Singh:
– Avoid sharing any particulars about bank accounts with strangers directly or over the phone
– If you have been cheated, immediately call toll-free number ‘1930’
-If you do not receive a response from your bank after reporting a fraud, contact the Banking Ombudsman at RBI, Sector 17.
– Get sensitised about online banking and transactions before using online banking services.
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