Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): A new way of accessing the One Time Password (OTP) has left the Bhopalites scratching their heads as Rs 3.7 crore were siphoned off from their bank accounts till August this year. Knowing that people will not share their OTP, cyber crooks now lure them into forwarding their calls to their number in a veiled manner. This way, the crooks get access to the entire data of victim’s phone including their calls and messages and wipe off money from their bank accounts. According to district cyber crime cell, 537 such instances were reported in Bhopal till August this year.

Modus operandi

The cyber crooks call up a person on the pretext of either updating their PAN card, Aadhaar details, driving licences or pension application. They ask the target person to dial *401# (random mobile number) through their cell phone, where the random cell phone number belongs to either the crook or his accomplices. No sooner does the person dial the said number along with the code, the crooks get access to his/her mobile phone details, then get access to OTP received on their number and withdraw money from their bank accounts.

August incidents

In August 2024, 14 such incidents were reported in Bhopal. A recent incident pertained to Aishbag area where a businessman Radheshyam Kushwaha fell prey to the fraud, losing Rs 9 lakh in single attempt. Similarly, Abhinav Meena, a resident of Ashoka Garden, who had recently purchased a credit card, was offered to activate it by the crooks, who left him poorer by Rs 4.4 lakh.

Advisories soon

Assistant Commissioner of police (cyber) Sujeet Tiwari said the cyber cell would soon issue an advisory with regard to call forwarding scams.