Bengaluru: A 50-year-old private firm employee was duped by a cyber fraudster posing as an executive of a telecom service provider company who offered to upgrade his 4G sim to 5G. By converting the sim into an e-sim, the fraudster hacked the victim’s email, mobile number and bank account. A Rs 15 lakh loan was fraudulently obtained through the victim’s bank account, and Rs 2.1 lakh was siphoned off in just 30 minutes.According to the complaint filed by Jacob (name changed), a resident of Victoria Layout, the incident happened on June 13 when he received a call from 7295085693 around 3pm. The caller claimed to be an executive of a telecom service provider company and offered to upgrade the victim’s mobile connection from a 4G to a 5G sim, Jacob said.The fraudsters collected the embedded identity document (EID) number and converted his mobile number into an e-sim. Soon after, the fraudster gained control of the victim’s email account, mobile number and banking credentials.The fraudster subsequently obtained a loan of Rs 15 lakh in the victim’s name through his bank account without his knowledge. Of the sanctioned amount, Rs 14.6 lakh was credited to the victim’s account, and almost Rs 2.2 lakh was siphoned off by 3.30pm.Realising that his account had been compromised, the victim complained to the cyber helpline and bank. On June 15, he approached the central cyber crime police and lodged a complaint.A senior officer said while converting his physical sim to an e-sim, the individual has an option to select the device. The fraudsters took advantage of this option and selected their device to convert and activate the e-sim. They also hacked the banking credentials and took an instant loan from the bank. Before they siphoned off the entire loan amount, the victim realised it was a fraud and filed a complaint.A case has been registered under the Information Technology Act and BNS section 318 (Cheating).
