Bengaluru:
A 53-year-old cab driver has become the latest victim of phishing and lost Rs. 65,000, which he had saved for his daughter’s marriage, to fraudsters. After running from pillar to post for the past two days, driver Govindaswamy, with the help of a retired police officer, managed to get a complaint registered at the Koramangala police station on Monday.
A resident of Koramangala 4th Block, Govindaswamy has two savings bank accounts — one in Canara Bank and the other in Andhra Bank. On Friday afternoon, he received a call from a man claiming to a Canara Bank manager. He asked Govindaswamy for details on the pretext that his account needed an upgrade as it was “about to expire”.
Gone in minutes
The man also asked Govindaswamy if he had any other bank accounts, and got him to share his debit card PIN numbers. Within minutes, Govindaswamy received alert on his mobile about bank transactions from both accounts. “I was driving the cab and was shocked to see the messages,” he told
The Hindu
.
After dropping his passengers at their destination, Govindaswamy rushed to both the banks and blocked both accounts. But by then, Rs. 65,000 had already been debited.
Govindaswamy rushed to the police station to file a complaint, but he was sent back. The police finally registered the complaint only after a former IPS officer intervened.