Mumbai, January 15: In a bizarre incident, a Mumbai man was duped to the tune of Rs 48,000 after calling on a number that came up after searching for 'Reserve Bank of India (RBI) helpline' number. According to reports, a 74-year-old Malad resident, Vijaykumar Marwa, while cleaning his house in December 2018, had found Rs 7,000 in demonetised currency which he wanted to exchange. To understand the process, the man searched for the RBI helpline number online and called on the number that showed up in searches. However, the number that came up in the searches, was a fake one. Mumbai Woman Gets Duped, Visits Same ATM Everyday for 17 Days, Nabs Culprit. 

According to a report by Hindustan Times, Marwa spoke to the fraudster on call who promised to deposit the notes in the RBI office. The man on the other side of the call asked Marwa for his bank details, assuring that he will deposit the money to Marwa's account. After engaging the man in talks, the fraudster obtained his credit card details and one-time password (OTP), and within minutes transferred Rs 48,000 from Marwa’s bank account. After Marwa realised that he was duped, he approached the Malad police station and an FIR was filed on January 6. Haryana Singer Arrested for Duping Man of Rs 60 Lakh After Demonetisation. 

Reports inform that, the fraudsters pose as financial institutions and put up their numbers online to dupe people. According to the HT report, Balsing Rajput, superintendent, cyber, Maharashtra said that cyber fraudsters have adopted this new technique lately. “The search engine should verify if the numbers are genuine or not. They need to correct it. We have written to them once and we will remind them again. People, too, should be cautious and only call on numbers displayed on the official websites”, he was quoted in the report.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 15, 2019 02:08 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).