Doctor loses Rs 6,000 to fraudster pretending to be RBI staffer

Mid-day

Mumbai, 16 Nov 2016: Even as banks repeatedly warn customers against revealing details of one’s debit or credit card to strangers, Mumbaikars continue to ignore it.

 

A doctor from Charni Road, who works with the 108 ambulance service at Churchgate, was cheated out of Rs. 6,000 by a phone fraudster pretending to be from the Reserve Bank of India.

 On November 9, Dr Shankar Shirgire received a call (No. 7654992424) from someone who said he was from the RBI. He told Dr. Shirgire because the Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes had been scrapped, his Maharashtra Bank ATM card would either have to be blocked or renewed.

 

When Shirgire said he wanted to renew it, the caller asked for all details of the card. The caller then went on to ask for an OTP number that comes only when there is a transaction being made on the card. No warning bells went off in Shirgire’s head and he handed over the OTP to the caller.

 

Thereafter, the doctor received an SMS from the bank about Rs. 1,999 being debited from his account. Still no warning bells. Emboldened, the caller tried his luck again. He asked the doctor for the other OTP and this time took Rs. 4,000 from his account.

 

This time it finally occurred to Dr. Shirgire that he had been conned. "When he called me the third time, I told him I would call the police. He immediately disconnected the phone. I lost Rs. 6,000 because of carelessness." The police have repeatedly informed that the RBI never calls citizens.