A representational image of a customer carrying out a transaction at an ATM. Police say the accused was a frequent visitor to the house of the complainant. He managed to see the OTP in the notifications sent to the mobile phone of the complainant after every online purchase and delete the same immediately. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

A resident of Mysuru, who is in his thirties, was shocked when he realised that a total of ₹21,02,041 had been debited from his account in a private bank without his knowledge between November 1, 2020 and December 24, 2020.

After he approached the Cyber Economics and Narcotics (CEN) Police Station of Mysuru in January 2021 with a complaint that the amount had been transferred out of the bank account through his debit card, the officials took up the investigation and managed to trace the accused, who was a 20-year-old youth, known to the complainant.

Officials of the CEN police station familiar with the case said the accused went on an online shopping spree after registering the complainant’s debit card number, CVV and other details on the e-commerce website of a multinational company. The accused had reportedly purchased gold coins worth ₹20 lakh, two cameras, a television, camera lens, a treadmill, speakers, Uninterrupted Power Systems (UPS) and a silver chain using the debit card.

The CEN police, who gathered information from the companies that had sold the goods, managed to arrest the accused on August 14.

“The accused, who was a frequent visitor to the house of the complainant, managed to see the OTP in the notifications sent to the mobile phone of the complainant after every online purchase and delete the same immediately,” the official said.

A sum of ₹15,05,000 that was in possession of the accused after selling the gold coins, was seized by the CEN officials. The other goods like cameras, its accessories, television, treadmill, speakers, UPS and a silver chain weighing 4 grams were also recovered.

According to the police, the value of the recovered cash and other items was ₹17,41,000.

Mysuru Police Commissioner Chandragupta appreciated the investigation and complimented the team responsible for cracking the case, including Inspector of CEN police station N. Jayakumar, Sub Inspectors Anil Kumar N. and Siddesh M.L., and Assistant Sub Inspectors Subhash Chandra, Nagendra, Basha, and police personnel under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Pradeep Gunti and Assistant Commissioner of Police, Devaraja, M.N. Shashidhar.

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Printable version | Aug 19, 2022 1:28:23 pm | https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/youth-arrested-for-misusing-debit-card-details-for-online-purchases-worth-over-21-lakh/article65779201.ece