83-year-old gets KYC update call, gets defrauded of ₹2.5 lakh after handing over phone to grandson

An 83-year-old man from Kolkata fell victim to a online social engineering attack losing his entire life savings to the tune of ₹2.5 Lakh. The piece of information that proved to be the clincher for the fraudster to win the trust of the victim, SP Sinha who resides in Thakurpukur, was the table number mentioned on the call. The fraudster claimed to have called from the same ‘Table number 3’ of the bank, where the victim held his pension account, he had also gone to the same table during his previous visit to the branch. 

The purpose of the call, the fraudster informed the 83-year-old pension account holder, was to update his know your customer (KYC) details. After the caller won over the confidence of elderly person Sinha, he handed over the call to his 11-year old grandson to share the information, under the assumption that he would be able to navigate the online procedure with more ease than himself. The grandson in his innocence shared all the account-related information.

Sinha loses his life savings 

After the call with the grandson was over, Sinha received a message on his mobile of ₹2,57,650 debited from his account. Moreover, he also lost the access to his fixed deposits and recurring deposits. 

The elderly victim was habitual to visiting the bank branch for fulfilling his bank requirements and wasn’t well versed with the online banking model thus falling prey to the fraudster. The incident serves as a stark reminder of the looming threat of online and mobile banking. 

Bank customers should note the banks never call their customers and ask for any account or other information and data. The customers can visit their bank branch to update their KYC.

On KYC update:

• Bank employees can never call any customer.
• Bank employees do not even message or call for KYC.
• Therefore, consider the SMS or call related to the bank as a wrong number.

How to update KYC online

- Log in to your bank's online banking portal.

- Click the "KYC" tab.

- Select the "Update KYC" button.

- Choose the information you want to update.

- Make changes and submit the required documents.

- Enter the OTP sent to your mobile number to validate your request.

What to do in case of cyber fraud

• Call 1930 immediately, in case you become a victim of a cyber crime.
• Get your complaint filed within 24 hours.
• If online complaint is filed within 24 hours, there will be chances of recovery.
• Action is initiated only when complaint is registered on cybercrime.gov.in.
• It is more important to call 1930 and seek help than informing the nearest police station.
• Bank personnel cannot even call for Aadhaar or PAN update.