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“Link your Aadhaar.”

This is something Indians have been doing since a couple of years. They have been linking their Aadhaar cards to their bank accounts and to their PAN numbers; after they have to go through an ordeal to obtain one. Now, we all have to even link our phone numbers to it.

While you see it as a step towards following the order of the land, there are people who see it as a breeding ground for advancing fraudulency. Getting duped was a Mumbai-based man, Shashwat Gupta, who works in Kozhikode for a private firm. He got scammed of ₹1.3 Lakh after he was told to link his phone number to his Aadhaar card.

In a Facebook

And in a blitz, my salary account was looted.

Hi guys! I just lost an amount of Rupees 1.3 lacs from my ICICI Bank salary account. A fraud, claiming to be from Airtel, gave me an ultimatum that Airtel would deactivate my SIM and block my number forever as I had not linked my Aadhar card to my SIM. He urged me to message my SIM card number to 121 (Official Airtel Service Number) and my SIM would be reactivated without any hassle. Little did I know that the fraudster would clone my SIM and loot all my hard earned money and also take away Investments (Fixed Deposits) that I had planned on using during the worst times of my life.

Is this all that was required to break my ICICI Bank Account? Is that how vulnerable technology have left us? I always thought that our accounts are well protected by layers of security. I was under the impression that a person would require my account details or debit card or some sensitive information that only I have, that I have been safeguarding every minute of my life, to break my account. But the truth is all that sensitive stuff is already floating around the criminal world waiting to be raided, as our beloved banks like ICICI Bank haven’t been able to keep what must only be ours, OURS!

It is unbelievable how easy it has become to steal from our accounts. All the fraudsters are doing is trying every trick they can think of to get that one tiny key that would break open a safe that seem to be safeguarded by hundred different locks.

The saddest part of this is, after the loot on day one, ICICI Bank was not able to protect the balance amount. Even after 18 hours of raising Service Request ( S/R 497438380 ) and repeated follow-ups on customer care and branch, the Bank was not able to freeze my balance and as a result early next morning the fraudster was easily able to walk away with the remainder amount. Dear ICICI Bank, are your services supposed to end in crisis or are you supposed relieve the customers’ grievances and prevent further damage?

ICICI Bank needs to understand that a fraudster breaks much more than an account with his activities, he breaks a persons’ life.

I feel that the Bank has failed to protect my account effectively and are completely responsible for my losses. I hence demand ICICI Bank to refund every single penny I’ve lost in this incident.

I would also like to speak out to my friends here, guys please be careful and wary of these frauds. The people who we think are securing us, are actually the ones screwing us.

ICICI Bank replied to Shashwat and is looking into the matter.

Netizens are baffled with the case and are worrying about their personal details. The fraudster asked Gupta to write an SMS to Airtel’s customer care number 121 with the SIM card number. When Shashwat said he didn’t know what’s that, the caller sent him a number. Gupta, unsuspicious, readily provided the number and in minutes his present SIM was deactivated. The number he messaged, is used for obtaining a duplicate SIM while the existing one is cancelled.

All it took was a phone number, a SIM number and the man’s life is upside down.

Frauds and scams are sadly the reality of the world we live in. And, there are people who dupe others of their life’s savings and leave them high and dry. Every day people lose billions to fraudsters and that’s the harshest truth. 🙁

Our request to the people is to be extremely sure and aware with whom they are sharing their personal details. Because, it is a dark world out there and one needs to be extra cautious, when it comes to documentation.

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