New Scam Alert! Bengaluru Woman Loses Rs 2 Lakh After ‘Pressing 1’ On Phone; Here’s What Happened News24 –

Bengaluru: A shocking incident of cyber scam has come to light form Bengaluru, where a woman lost Rs 2 lakhs after responding to an automated phone call. The automated phone call imitated a bank’s official Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system. The incident took place on 20 January. The 57-year-old victim received a call that resembled nationalized bank. According to TOI report, the caller ID displayed SBI, and it matched with the bank she had account with.

Here’s What Happened

The call was a recorded message and it stated that Rs 2 lakh has been transferred from her account to another account. She was asked to press 3 if she had made the transaction and if not then press 1. The victim was shocked initially after hearing the message as she hadn’t initiated any transaction.’

TOI quoted the victim who said, “I did not press any number initially, but the voice message repeated multiple times. I got confused and eventually pressed 1, as I hadn’t made the transaction.” The call then prompted her with another message: “Please visit your bank and contact the manager immediately”.

After the call disconnected, she immediately checked her bank account and found that the amount had been debited from her account. She rushed to the bank after noticing the deficit and realising that she had been duped. The bank manager asked her to report to the cybercrime helpline. She then filed a complaint with Girinagar police.

What Did The Police Say?

However, examining the nature of case, investigators suspect that scammers are using advanced strategy to dupe people now. They said so as the fraudsters typically use IVR calls to collect sensitive bank details which include account number, card details and other personal information. But, in the victim’s case, as she claims no such information was shared by her.

A senior police official looking into the case said that either the woman unknowingly shared information or the fraudsters have developed a new way to scam people. Investigation is underway added the police.