A resident of central Kolkata who received a text message saying his KYC details needed to be updated on his bank database to prevent suspension of his account lost Rs 22 lakh on Wednesday night by clicking on a link sent to his phone.
He reported the matter to police early on Thursday. Cops identified the accounts to which the money was transferred and the entire money was recovered.
The police said the complainant, Maliram Banwarilal, received a text message on his phone around 10pm on Wednesday. He was asked to click a link in the message to update his bank KYC with his PAN.
“He started filling in the form which appeared on his phone screen after he clicked the link. But he became suspicious and left the form incomplete. After a few minutes he received a call and was told that if he did not fill in the form, money would be debited from his account. He disconnected the call and called the customer service of his bank, only to be told that Rs 22 lakh had been debited from his account,” said an officer of the central division cyber cell, where the complaint was lodged.
He reported the matter to Posta police station close to midnight and then went to the cyber cell around 12.30am on Thursday.
“Sergeant Somnath Ghosh of the cyber cell started working on the case and identified the accounts where the money had been transferred,” said Rupesh Kumar, deputy commissioner, central.
