UDUPI: A man from Brahmavara in Udupi who tried recharging his fastag account by calling the helpline number available on the net lost Rs 99,997. 

Francis Pius who was travelling from Brahmavara to Mangaluru in his four-wheeler was about to cross the toll plaza in Hejamady and realized that his fastag balance was low on January 29. 

Pius tried searching for a helpline number on the net and got a mobile number to which he lost Rs 99,997 in a total of five transactions that he made.

The person speaking from the other end introduced himself as a representative of Paytm Fastag and assured to ‘help’ him. The miscreant asked Pius to share the one-time password (OTP) that he received on his phone.

As Francis followed his words, Rs 49,000 got deducted from his bank account. As four ore transactions took place following that transaction, amounts of Rs 19,999, Rs 19,998, Rs 9,999 and Rs 1,000 got deducted. In all, Francis lost Rs 99,997.

A case of cyber fraud has been registered by Udupi CEN police based on a complaint by Francis Pius Furtado.

Police said that the complainant ended up calling a fake number as he searched for a customer care number on the net.

Police sources added that Francis was asked to download a suspicious mobile APP and money got deducted. Udupi CEN police station inspector Manjunath told TNIE that an investigation is on to find out to which bank account the money of the complainant has got transferred.

Based on that information, the customer details (KYC details) available with the bank will be sought and the culprits will be traced, he said. A case is registered at Udupi CEN police station under sections- 66 (C), and 66 (D) of the IT Act.