Pune: Cybercrooks allegedly used a fake email address resembling that of an aluminium casting company in Chinchwad MIDC to get two SIM cards linked to its bank account blocked and obtain duplicate SIM cards. They then siphoned off Rs 33.71 lakh through five transactions.The fraud came to light on Nov 1, when the company’s owner (51), a resident of Nigdi Pradhikaran, checked its current account and found that Rs 33.71 lakh had been withdrawn. He lodged a complaint with the Nigdi police on Saturday.A police officer said the fraudsters sent an email to a telecom service provider on Oct 30, using an address resembling the company’s official email ID. The email requested the blocking of two SIM cards used for the company’s banking operations.“The company’s senior accountant informed the complainant on the same day that the SIM card provided to him for official work had stopped functioning around 1pm. By 4pm, another SIM card used for the company’s banking transactions had also become inactive,” the officer said.When the accountant approached the telecom company’s office in Nigdi, he learnt about the email. The owner initially did not suspect fraud but later discovered the five unauthorised transactions. He contacted the national cybercrime helpline 1930 and filed an online complaint.“Our investigations so far have revealed that the amounts were transferred to a private bank account in Gautam Buddhanagar district in Uttar Pradesh. We have sought the account details from the bank,” the officer said.The Nigdi police have registered a case under Section 318 (cheating) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and relevant sections of the Information Technology Act.
