This is a real-life story of a Megha Arora, a project manager from New Delhi who recently lost all her savings in a Fake Transaction Scam that took place in her ICICI bank account. The ICICI bank is known for its fastest internet service through the website and mobile banking app with the claims of top-class security to protect your finances. But this fact will surprise you with Goosebumps!
What Happened to Megha Arora?
Megha Arora, a project manager from New Delhi recently posted the scam that happened to her on the side of ICICI bank on her LinkedIn and Twitter accounts. She lost all of her life savings in just 24 hours. On February 9th, 2023, Megha became a target of an immense scam by ICICI Bank A/C where she lost Rupees 21,57,700 in just 24 Hours. The scandal happened around 4:11. The First illegal transaction of rupees 5 lakhs was reportedly debited in consultation with bank staff. Immediately after that Rupees 4,99,900 was illegally debited. It was a real pity that this unauthorised withdrawal was made while the money was in a fixed deposit and she didn’t receive any kind of notification like an OTP or approval from the bank.
Also, Rs 1,29,900 and Rs. 1,37,900 were charged from the Credit Card on the same day and time. Unfortunately, the bank allowed the transaction (Rs. 129,900) although the approval from Megha was Specifically denied over the Phone call. For the second amount (Rs, 1,37,900) the Bank didn’t make any mandatory verification /approval call or SMS. These Unauthorised transactions were made via NEFT/IMPS with Punjab National Bank.
The matter was immediately reported by Megha to ICICI bank with clear instructions to Block the account and Internet/mobile banking, Debit card credit card with quick effects and the same was also confirmed by the bank. Furthermore, the case was reported to Cyber Crime helpline no. 1930.
Surprisingly despite the strict instructions to the bank not to allow any more Transactions on Megha’s account, the bank continued to unauthorised transactions without a verification and approval link from her. Instead of following the Instructions and standard bank protocols, the bank continued the transaction of Rs. 4 lakhs and Rs. 4,90,000 on 10th February at 8:11 am.
Painfully, they have to add that over the next two days and have simultaneous calls asking for more account details. The ICICI bank informed her about the location of the money that said the fraudulent withdrawal was to the National bank of Punjab (to Prashant Chandra Poddar).
The Steps You Should Take To Avoid The Bank Scams
ICICI bank Deputy Manager Mr Mudit B. from Bhopal Madhya Pradesh commented on the same post of Megha Arora by saying- “99% of Banking Fraud happens due to lack of awareness of Customer. Customers share their Credentials with anyone without thinking of Consequences”.
But further he has also suggested some steps to avoid such Scams
- Set the Minimum withdrawal limits for respected credit cards and debit cards.
- NEFT (National Electronic Funds Transfer) and RTGS (Real Time Gross Settlement) rights must be blocked from Mobile Banking because Mobile banking is sometimes unsafe as cell phone companies can easily extract your Credentials.
- Limited usage of Mobile banking facilities.
- Always block transactions from upper ceiling limits and also for International transactions Cards Credit Card and Debit cards. Also, change the settings of your accounts with NEFT and RTGS rights whenever the changes are required.
This way you can at least stay aware and avoid getting trapped in such scams. He still states that 99% of scams happen because of the Missteps taken by the account holders. Hackers cannot reach any high-value bank accounts easily from a large database until the details have been shared by the user (directly or indirectly).
Wrapping up
You are the one who is responsible for the scams happening to you. Keep yourself updated on the details and essential information. A lack of awareness can cause many problems which can make your Financial survival difficult.
Similarly, take all the information consciously, and don’t easily trust anything until the information is provided by a trusted source. Make a fact check before you take or share any information from Multiple outlets so that you will be learned of the 360-degree angle of the Fact.
Stay safe and Alert!
