Senior citizen loses ₹9.96 lakh in KYC scam

Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription

A 71-year-old man from K.R. Puram has lost ₹9.96 lakh after allegedly falling victim to a fake KYC update scam targeting his nationalised bank account.

The complainant said he opened the message and was prompted to install an “Aadhaar update.apk” application on his mobile phone. Believing it to be a legitimate bank application, he installed it and entered his 16-digit debit card number, CVV and expiry details.

Soon after entering the details, he began receiving bank alerts about money being debited from his account. The police records show that six transactions totalling ₹9.96 lakh were made from the account.

Realising that he had been targeted by cyber fraudsters, Sivaprakasam immediately contacted the bank and got his internet banking facility frozen. He also deleted the APK application from his phone to prevent further financial loss.

The complainant told the police that the money had been saved by him and his family for future medical expenses, making the loss particularly distressing.

The East CEN Crime Police have registered a case. Further investigation is on.

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.