Noida Retired Engineer Falls Victim to Online Credit Card Scam, Loses ₹9.63 Lakh

Online Fraud Targets Noida Resident

A retired engineer, aged 66, residing in Sector 78 of Noida, has become a victim of an online scam. According to police reports released on Friday, the individual clicked on an advertisement online, which led to his mobile device being compromised. As a result, fraudsters managed to steal his credit card details and withdrew a staggering ₹9.63 lakh.

The victim, who lives in a high-rise apartment, has chosen to keep his identity confidential. He was manipulated into sharing his personal and credit card information, which the scammers exploited to execute the theft.

In the First Information Report (FIR), the victim recounted that on July 8, around 10 PM, while using a photo-sharing app, he encountered an ad promoting a credit card upgrade. Since he already held a card from that issuer, he clicked on the ad to initiate the upgrade process.

The following day, at approximately noon, he received a call from an unknown number. The caller claimed to be a customer service agent from the credit card company and sent a WhatsApp link, stating it was for applying for a new card with a higher limit.

A police officer mentioned that the victim was instructed to fill out a form and repeatedly enter his details due to alleged technical issues.

After the call ended, the victim noticed that his mobile network was down for about thirty minutes. Once the service resumed, he received notifications of multiple large transactions made from his credit card.

Ranjit Singh, the officer in charge of the Cyber Crime Station, stated that the investigation revealed that clicking the link provided by the fraudsters allowed them access to the victim's mobile device. During this time, they also acquired information from another credit card and executed transactions totaling ₹9.63 lakh.

The police have initiated a case at the Cyber Crime Station, charging the perpetrators under sections 318 (4) for cheating and 319 (2) for impersonation as per the Indian Penal Code and the IT Act.