With the help of information obtained from victims defrauded by online scammers who claimed that PAN cards were required for KYC updates, Mumbai police have filed 78 FIRs in connection with the opening of 300 fictitious bank accounts and the acquisition of 100 SIM cards. 

Actor-politician Nagma Morarji, who lost Rs.99,998 to online scammers on February 28, and actress Shweta Menon, who lost Rs.57,636 on March 2, are two of the 78 victims.

The increase and a sizable client data breach from a bank's third-party agency are thought to be the result of an organized crime syndicate, according to cyber police. The 150 light bill frauds reported between August 2022 and February 2023 totaled Rs.1.85 crore, according to the police, and the KYC fraud instances in just 2 weeks represent nearly 50% of those. 

Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), Lakhmi Gautam, described how fraudsters operate by sending fake SMS messages to victims that contain phishing links and threaten to stop their bank accounts if they are not updated. 

Students, labourers, BMC workers, psychiatrists, businessmen, doctors, media professionals, engineers, and elderly citizens are among the other victims of this frauds. 

Avoid cybercrime

• Avoid clicking on unknown links, Emails, SMS.
• For customer care service always visit the official website of your bank or service provider.
• Before entering the credentials, carefully check the website details.
• Do not share your personal credentials and OTP with any stranger.
• If you realize that you have become a victim of fraud then visit the nearest cybercrime station immediately. 
• Protect your mobile phones and apps in it with strong passwords.

What banks don’t do

• Bank will never share a link with you to update KYC in an unsolicited manner.
• Banks and financial institutions also don’t ask you to install any third party apps.
• Bank officials will never ask for your confidential banking or personal details.

Source: Click Here