You must use a mobile phone number. At various points, you are prompted to enter your mobile phone number. For example, you must provide your mobile number for your bank account, PF account, Demat and trading account, e-wallets, online shopping, and many other accounts.
When you need to make an important transaction, an OTP is sent to your mobile number, and the transaction is only completed after you enter the OTP. If you want to make an online payment, your bank will send an OTP to the mobile number you registered with. Only after entering your OTP will the payment be completed.
Due to the importance of mobile numbers in various transactions, fraudsters are using them to defraud people and empty their bank accounts. Fraudsters obtain reissued SIM cards by presenting forged documents. The victim's old SIM card is blocked when the SIM card is reissued. Fraudsters use new SIM cards to conduct fraudulent transactions and empty victims' bank accounts.
This blog will look at a real-life incident involving a businessman who lost Rs 1.3 crore after his SIM card went out of service for four days.
This is exactly what happened.
The victim was a businessman who owned and operated a chemical dye plant in Naroda, GIDC. On his mobile phone, he was accessing his current account via internet banking. On February 28th, he discovered that his SIM card was not working while on a flight. He attributed this to airport network issues.
His SIM card was also inoperable for the next two days. When he returned home, his phone was still dead. The following day, the businessman's son called his driver and informed him that Rs 1.37 lakh had been deducted from two of his company's bank accounts.
The businessman immediately shut down his bank accounts and contacted the network service provider. The network service provider informed him that his SIM card was reissued on February 28th due to submitting documents. Fraudsters reissued the SIM card after receiving the victim's forged documents. The SIM Swap fraud is the name given to this type of fraud.
The money was transferred from the victim's bank account into accounts in Delhi and Kolkata in 21 separate transactions between February 28th and March 2nd. Because his SIM card was inoperable, the victim did not receive any OTPs (one-time passwords). All of the OTPs sent by banks were intercepted by fraudsters who had his SIM card reissued.
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