Noida Woman Loses Rs. 1.5 Lakh Via Credit Card Fraud

Just within the first week of 2020, a 41-year old Indian man lost over 3 lakhs to a scammer who posed as a Vodafone customer care executive. Now, a woman in Noida is said to have lost over Rs. 1.5 lakh to online fraud.

Surprisingly, the fraudsters committed the crime in a different manner than what we have heard in the past. While it is a case of credit card theft, the scammers looted the victim with a different approach.

 

What’s The Case?

The incident took place on New Year's eve when Noida-based Neha Sharma was going for a vacation to Paris. Neha's wallet was stolen in the metro she boarded. But, just within 15-20 minutes, she got the shock of her life. The stolen wallet had both HDFC Bank's Credit as well as the debit card.

A report from IANS suggests, Neha works with a PR firm got to know about the theft when she came across three fraudulent transfers from her card. She contacted the HDFC Bank customer care and raised a request to get both her cards blocked immediately.

The Fraud Transactions

The hackers managed to steal over Rs. 1.5 lakh amounting to three different fraud transactions. Two of them were made using her HDFC bank Credit card, while the other one was from her debit card. The credit card transactions are said to be Rs. 52,499.99 and Rs. 44,544.24. On the other hand, the hackers stole Rs. 52,499 using her debit card.

But unlike the previous cases where the victim usually receives an OTP or PIN text confirmation, this theft was carried out without sending one. The transactions were made from both cards at the same merchant going by the name ASHANTI, Paris 10/FR.

What’s The Development?

Neha got in touch with the HDFC bank customer care and reported the card thefts and raised a request to get the cards blocked. She also transferred the remaining account from her hacked account to another HDFC Bank account.

As the merchant seems to be based out of Paris, Neha also lodged an FIR with the concerned authorities there. She said, "All the necessary information and paperwork required was done well within time as per the RBI guidelines (within one hour of the transaction happening, I blocked my card and within 12 hours, I sent all the paperwork to HDFC Bank)."

RBI Guidelines For Such Online Frauds

RBI, also known as the Reserve Bank of India has certain guidelines to tackle such online scams and frauds. Affected customers need to complete all the necessary guidelines in such online fraud cases. Once all the formalities are complete, the bank returns the stolen amount within the next 10 working days.

Neha, however, is yet to receive the amount and it seems like she is being asked to pay some money to get stolen amount reversed. She said, "I am yet to receive any amount from the bank despite following the RBI guidelines.

I was even asked by the bank to get the FIR translated into English that will cost me Rs 8,000. Instead of reversing my stolen money, they are asking me to spend more".