Cybercrime in city shoots up by 100% from last year; latest victims from Kasavanahalli & Koramangala

Last year, there were 5036 cyber crime complaints received by the Bengaluru police. This year, and it’s just in its sixth month, and already 4350 complaints have been registered and counting. Some of the recent cases involved residents from Kasavanahalli and Koramangala. And both these cases were identity thefts.

THE KORAMANGALA CASE OF ATM FRAUD

Twenty-seven-year-old Raghavendra R needed Rs 400 urgently. However, the vendors were not accepting e-wallets. Therefore, he rushed to the nearest ATM in Ramamurthy Nagar and withdrew Rs 400. Three days later, while he was gymmin, he received two SMS-es that someone had withdrawn Rs 10000 and Rs 7000 from the same ATM in Rammurthy Nagar. Having realised that he was defrauded, he rushed to the Bank of India office who said they would take 90 days to resolve his complaint and also advised him to file a case with the Cyber Crime police station.

“I had Rs 18000 in the bank,” Raghavendra told Residents Watch. “They withdrew Rs 17000. After this fraud, I heard from another friend that someone known to him was defrauded the same way. Unfortunately, I had the old ATM card without the chip. Now, I have taken the one with the chip.”

THE KASAVANAHALLI CASE OF CREDIT CARD FRAUD

On May 4, 38-year-old Neelam Podar’s phone was switched off at 11.24pm. When she switched it on at 11.55pm, she was flooded with transaction alert messages. “My credit card was hacked and I reached out to the bank and blocked it,” she told this channel. However, the damage was done. She was defrauded of Rs 64088.