A Mumbai based textile merchant has recently lost at least Rs 1.86 crore in a SIM card swap fraud case after he received six missed calls on the intervening night of December 27-28, 2018.
The incident came to light when the businessman approached the BKC Cyber Police Station with a complaint.
According to the complaint, the businessman received six missed calls after which his cellphone stopped functioning. The next morning, he found that his bank account, which was with a co-operative bank and whose details were linked to his mobile phone, had been almost emptied during the night, a police official said.
It was found out that at least Rs 1.86 crore was fraudulently transferred from his account through RTGS/NEFT by unidentified persons to 24 accounts of various banks in Delhi, West Bengal, Jharkhand and some northern states, the official added.
Moreover, the official also informed that the businessman rushed to his bank and tried to stop fraudulent money transfers. However, the bank managed to bring back only Rs 20 lakh and was able to freeze some more amounts.
Based on the complaint, an offence has been registered against unidentified persons under various Sections of the Indian Penal Code, 1860- 417 (cheating), 419 (cheating by impersonation), 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) and also relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
The police suspect the accused persons got access to the businessman's unique SIM number and initiated a SIM swap and then moved his money to other bank accounts through multiple transactions, the official said.
They may have got the businessman's SIM card details with the help of a malware, a type of computer virus, the official added.
