Bengaluru: Two Men Siphon Off Lakhs From Businessmen By Hacking Their SMSs & Stealing Card Details

The cases of cyber fraud or on a rise with the latest one being from Bengaluru, where the city cyber crime police have apprehended two youths who have been defrauded several businessmen of lakhs of rupees. According to The Times of India, the culprits stole the debit and credit card details and hacked into the owners’ phones by the means of an app to access the One Time Password(OTP).

The plan behind the defraud

Raghavendra S alias Raghu, 24, of Hosa Road, Hosur Main Road, from Shivamogga, and his associate Rakesh Kumar A alias Raki, 24 who is a resident of HSR layout and a native of Gauribidanur, opened an account in SBI branch at Hosa Road junction by furnishing false documents and obtained a Point-of-Sale(PoS) machine. Raghu had gained knowledge about money transfers from his previous job with a business lead firm in double road, Shantinagar, Bangalore. They searched for people who dealt in logistics, solar energy, and earth movers. Once they picked a target, the two would meet the person in the office and posed as proprietors of a business lead firm.

After gaining their trust, Raghu and Raki would tell to make a card transaction of Rs 200 for registering with their firm. Diverting the person’s attention, they would click the pictures of the card and ask the owner to download an app called MY SMS which helped them read the OTP messages the victim would get on the mobile phone during card transaction they would be making.

Scam Exposed

The scam caught the eye of the police during an investigation into a cheating case registered by a Nagarabhavi resident who complained that Rs 75,000 had been debited from his account. After a thorough look into this matter, police found the My SMS app on the victim’s mobile phone. They tracked down the culprits and swooped down on them.

Police have seized one car, one bike, five debit cards, seven mobiles, two sim cards, one swiping machine, and other valuables. Raghu and Raki have confessed to having cheated seven people. The duo was presented before the court which remanded them from judicial custody.

The Logical Indian take

The cases of cyber fraud have risen in the past couple of years. Although the people behind it use clever approaches, they cannot pull it off without receiving some confidential information from you. Without that information, they can do no harm to you. The Logical Indian appeals to the readers to be aware of the information they share with others. By making sure you check the details of your bank account safely, changing your password regularly and not sharing it with it with anyone you can ensure that you do not lose your money.

Also Read: After Sharing OTP 28 Times With Fraudster, Woman Duped Of Nearly Rs 7 Lakh