Two persons in the city were cheated of over Rs 6 lakh in the past 24 hours after fraudsters gained access to their computers through remote access software, the police said.

According to the police, in one case, Amita Jamenis (38), a Borivali resident, downloaded an app on Thursday to invest in mutual funds. There was some problem with e-verification of signature and she emailed customer service. She received a call from a person who claimed to be from the app’s customer service.

The caller told her that e-verification could be completed online and asked her to download remote access software, the police said. The caller also sent her a link with a form attached. She was asked to fill details like debit card number. After she did, a series of transactions took place that led to Rs 3 lakh being withdrawn from her bank account. She then approached the police.

The second case took place at Mahim in which a 48-year-old woman, Prafulla Bam, was cheated of Rs 3.08 lakh when a person claiming to be updating her PayTM KYC asked her to download remote access software over which he made fraudulent transactions, the police said.

Remote access software allows file transfer or even repair or troubleshoot a device remotely and have gained popularity during the lockdown.

The police said fraudsters are taking advantage of the situation.

A police officer said a security measure in such apps asks the person who owns the device to enter a nine-digit access code after which the other person gets remote access to the device.

“Unfortunately, as fraudsters manage to bypass the OTP security feature in ATM cards by convincing victims to disclose them, they manage to convince users to disclose remote access codes as well,” the officer said, adding that while victims do get suspicious to share OTP, they are not so while allowing access to their systems through remote software.

If You Like This Story, Support NYOOOZ

NYOOOZ SUPPORTER

₹ 10 - ₹ 1000

NYOOOZ FRIEND

₹ 2000 - ₹ 5000

Your support to NYOOOZ will help us to continue create and publish news for and from smaller cities, which also need equal voice as much as citizens living in bigger cities have through mainstream media organizations.