12378 - Aadhaar-link pretext to commit fraud - Telegraph India

Aadhaar-link pretext to commit fraud

LALMOHAN PATNAIK

WORRYING SIGNS Cuttack: Fraudsters have started taking advantage of the Centre's move to get Aadhaar card linked to bank accounts and SIM cards by December 31. Police on Monday started investigation into one such case registered at Mangalabag police station. A trader was tricked into revealing his debit card details by a conman posing as branch manager of his bank and saying that he needed the details to link his account to his Aadhaar card. The complainant, Manmohan Naik, 53, is a resident of Thoria Sahi. "Naik received a call on his cell phone on September 24. The caller  identified himself as the manager of a nationalised bank's branch  near the SCB Medical College and Hospital where he held a  savings account. After asking questions to establish that he indeed  had an account in the bank and that he used a debit card, the  caller informed Naik that his bank account needed to be linked  with his Aadhaar number," said Mangalabag police station inspector-in-charge Arun Kumar Swain. Naik fell in the trap and gave all his details, including his debit card PIN number and card validation date, as the caller said it was necessary for the renewal of his debit card. Then, the caller hung up, saying that the renewal would be done shortly. Subsequently, Naik received notifications from his bank on his cell phone that certain amounts had been debited from his account towards some purchases made online. He made enquiries with his bank and found that the purchases had been made using his debit card PIN. The case was registered after Naik approached the police on Sunday. The police have already collected from the bank details of purchases, which indicated that Rs 1.26 lakh had been debited from his account in phases towards purchases made online. "We have identified the portals through which purchases were made and sought from the agencies the location of the person, who made them and number of the cell phone used for the online transactions," Swain said. The bank details indicated that the fraudster had used Rs 1.26 lakh from the complainant's account in phases towards purchases made online, through PayTM and MobiKwik. Payments had also been made online to hire OLA cabs.