Mumbai, January 14: Cases of cyber crime are on the rise. Cyber criminals are finding new ways to dupe people of their hard earned money. In a recent incident, a 40-year-old central Mumbai businessman who deals in jewellery and fruits was taken aback when he found that Rs 28 lakh has been transferred from his bank account.

TOI reported that the man was driving towards Juhu one evening when he found one of the two SIM cards in his phone had lost network. Soon, he got a mail from the SIM card company saying that in accordance with his request, the SIM had been suspended. However, he quickly informed his father, who spoke to the card company and said that no such request was sent from them and asked it to activate the number again. After half an hour, the card was activated and the businessman got three messages stating Rs 28 lakh had been transferred out of his bank account in three transactions. Cyber Fraud: Fraudsters Withdraw Rs 50 Lakh From Man's Account Just by Giving Blank Calls; Here's How One of the Biggest Frauds in Delhi Happened

The police managed to freeze Rs 16 lakh in the accounts where the businessman's money had been transferred. Online Fraud: Woman Duped of Rs 18,000 by Asking To Pay Rs 6 by Fake Courier Company in Uttar Pradesh

An FIR of cheating was registered on January 3 with the Central Cyber police station. The incident took place on December 28.

The SIM card company verified the user's details and activated the SIM at 8.28pm. Only Rs 1,000 was left in the businessman's account and the rest of the money was sucked out of his account.

The victim rushed to the Central Cyber police station in Worli. A team led by joint commissioner Lakhmi Gautam and DCP Balsingh Rajput and comprising senior PI Rajesh Nagwade and PSI Nilesh Hembade began the probe. "We checked the details and within an hour we contacted five banks' nodal officers and asked them to freeze the accounts where the money was transferred. We managed to stop Rs 16 lakh while the remaining was withdrawn by the fraudsters in Mumbai and Lucknow," said Hembade.

The money was first transferred to a bank account in Lucknow and then into three accounts in UP and one account in Ghatkopar. "A suspect withdrew money from an ATM in Mulund while a major portion of money was withdrawn from an ATM in UP," an official said.

Investigators have sought information from the SIM card company about who had asked it to suspend the account. The police said they also wanted to know how a large sum was withdrawn from an ATM in an hour. Further investigation into the incident is underway.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 14, 2023 06:33 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).