Mumbai: In a shocking case of cybercrime, the Gupta family found Rs 7.50 crore debited from their company's current account in ICICI Bank's Churchgate branch as the result of a SIM swap fraud. The scammer hacked the complainant's brother’s and father’s mobile numbers and defrauded them.
Between December 21 and December 23, the accused transferred the amount through more than 80 transactions from the company's account. The police have frozen several accounts linked to the accused who is absconding.
Vinod Gupta, 65, resides in Malad West and operates a steel trading business with his sons, Vikas Gupta, 37, and Varun Gupta, 39. Their office is also located in Malad West.
The complainant, Vikas Gupta, stated that on December 22, around 7 PM, Gupta’s relatives complained that his father’s and brother’s mobile phones were not reachable, even though they were switched on. The next day, they visited an Airtel gallery and discovered that the SIM cards had been converted into e-SIMs.
Gupta claimed that his father and brother did not receive any OTPs (one-time passwords) or instructions to swap the SIMs, and he suspects the process occurred automatically. The Airtel employee advised them to check their bank accounts.
Upon checking their personal and company bank accounts, Gupta discovered that Rs 7.50 crore had been transferred from their company’s ICICI Bank accounts to multiple accounts in IDFC, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, IDBI, and several other banks. Over 80 transactions occurred between December 21, 9.50 AM, and December 23, 11.21 AM.
Gupta immediately approached the Cyber Police and filed a complaint on Monday. Currently, the police are investigating the transactions and freezing the accused’s accounts wherever possible. They plan to file charges soon.
Gupta stated, “My father and brother did not receive any OTPs, nor did they click on any links. According to authorities, a scammer cloned their SIMs and committed the crime. Most transactions occurred on Sunday, but the bank also failed to notice that something was wrong. They did not receive any notifications, possibly because the SIMs were cloned.”
