#onlinescam | You must not provide your OTPs over the phone to avoid being a victim of OTP fraud. Banks and other service providers would never ask you for your passwords or OTPs.
I got a call on the 7th of January 2023 at approximately 1:30 PM and a girl addressed herself as calling from my Indusind bank. She informed me that I have 1,605 credit card points on my card and that they will convert my points into money, which is Rs 8,000, and the same amount will be credited to either one of my credit or savings accounts, depending on which account I choose. Then she gave me her name and employee ID and assured me that I could share the OTP I received to convert my credit points into cash money. As soon as I shared my first OTP, she said there was some error, and then she took my second OTP and again asked me for one more OTP. I was duly convinced that she was a genuine bank representative, so I shared the second OTP and then the third OTP as well, and she kept my account deducting until finally a total of Rs 47000/- was debited from my credit card account.
This is where the hook comes in, as well as the catch. You may be thinking, "What a fool, he shared three OTPs in a row!" Yes, you are quite correct; I am the stupid #1 in this situation. To keep me convinced that my account was being credited with such and such credit points, she simultaneously sent me a fake SMS confirming that my credit card account ending in XXXX had been credited with such and such reward points. This was not an ordinary form of fraud; rather, it is a new method for perpetrating fraud online.
Please find attached screenshots of the text messages that the bogus fraudster was sending to me. Her speech and accent were so smooth and fluent, with all good confidence, that many others might have been persuaded and may have shared the OTP.
The whole procedure was so professionally done and beautifully structured, and her voice and accent were so smooth and fluent. Since most people are smarter now, these thieves have created more sophisticated scams. They have added quality to their dark art of online crime and scams.
Having said that, NEVER EVER SHARE ANY OTP WITH ANYONE. This was the first and final error I ever made with an online money transaction. I will definitely remember this for the rest of my life so that I do not make this mistake ever again.
When did I finally realize that I had been a victim of fraud?
When the imposter asked for the number of one of my other credit or debit card bank accounts and told me that she would now transfer Rs 8,000 in cash into any of my bank accounts according to my choice and asked me to share the one-time password(OTP) for the transaction, that's when I realized that I had been conned and that fraud had ruined my credit card bank account. Hence, I only realized that I had been a victim of fraud when she asked for the number of one of my other credit or debit cards. I immediately checked my Indusind credit card bank account, email, and SMS, as well as the application, and found that my balance of 60,000 rupees had been reduced to 12,000 rupees, and I saw a total outstanding balance of Rs 47,000/-. Please look at the screenshot below. This is the original email that my bank sent me, which shows that money was stolen from my account.
I was stunned and jolted, as well as unable to take a breath since I was entirely overcome with emotion. Then I inquired as to the reason why she did this to me on that very call. But the girl laughed at me and told me not to worry since this was not a fraud. When she found out that now I was not going to give her OTP anymore, she muted me till I told her that I was not going to share it anymore.
Also, please note that I did not get the SMS that usually comes right after a bank or account transaction. This is a very important part of this dark art. This clearly shows that they broke into Indusind's bank server to stop me from getting SMS alerts when money was taken out of my account. That's why I gave the OTPs on that fake call 3–4 times.
How easy is it for them to get into a bank's server? Now it's clear how bad some banks' server systems are and how high-tech these thieves have become in the year 2023. Really, really sad. People need to be very smart these days, because being simple will only get you ripped off by these sneaky online fraudsters.
I begged her for the money that I had worked so hard to get, but it was obvious that she would not react. After that, I hung up the call and quickly dialled the number for my bank, where they promptly placed a fraud alert on the card and blocked it. I also went to the police station to submit a complaint, and I reported the incident online at the "National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal" at the same time. Both of these actions were taken simultaneously. Look at the image copy of the complaint below. At the moment, I am awaiting a response, and I am uncertain as to what the outcome of this inquiry will be. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed here.
I will let you know the latest progress as soon as I hear back about the investigation from either my bank or the agency that handles cyber crimes.
Please be aware that we all have a function for capping or setting a spending limit available in each of our credit card accounts. I strongly urge each of you to access your credit card account application and set a limit for online transactions, limits for point-of-sale terminals, limits for merchant outlets, limits for tap-and-pay systems(WIFI), limits for ATM withdrawals, and so on. Please take this step as soon as possible in order to prevent the same thing from happening to anybody else ever again as it did to me.
Additionally, if at all possible, you should disable your credit card and debit card from your app. You should only enable them when you want to make a purchase, shop, or make a transaction, and then you should disable them again afterward. It is in your best interest to protect your hard-earned money from the rotten cabal of internet con artists who have become atrophied and nasty.
I'm warning you about this incident because nobody in our friend group discusses or discusses such matters; we usually pay little attention to these significant matters because we only hear about them in the news, but we don't take them seriously because they've never happened to us in person—
"Only a fool learns from his own mistakes. The wise learn from the mistakes of others."
FRAUD ALERT: Never hand over your credit/debit card or share your card details, like your card number, OTP, CVV, PIN, or card expiry date, with anyone, including your bank representatives. Stay Alert, Stay Secure!
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