Pune: A finance company owner lost Rs50lakh after a fraudster swapped his SIM with a fake one and used it to transfer money from his bank account to 28 different accounts.

The incident occurred between November 26 and 28. The complainant runs a finance company at Sadashiv Peth.

Khadak police have booked an unidentified person for siphoning off the money.

The company owner, a resident of Loni Kalbhor, lodged a police complaint, saying that the suspect used fake and fabricated documents to obtain a SIM card in his name. The suspect then linked his phone number with the bank and siphoned off the money using e-banking facility.

Sagar Panmand, assistant inspector, cybercrime police station, said, “It is a case of SIM swap. The complainant’s bank account had e-banking facilities and the security of the account was compromised as the suspect managed to link the SIM number with the account,” he said. The complainant’s finance company is associated with various financial institutions, companies and banks. He offers loans to individuals and small and medium-size companies, said Panmand. He said the complainant has an account with a private bank. “The victim had followed all the steps and completed know your customer (KYC) procedure with the bank,” Panmand said.

“We are yet to receive the information from the bank, but it is prima facie suspected that the suspect obtained details of his Aadhaar Card or made a fake and fabricated Aadhaar card and other IDs of the complainant. The suspect then used these documents to obtain the SIM card from a private cellular operator,” he said.

“The suspect then linked the phone number with his bank account, and siphoned off the money,” he said. Investigations revealed that the money was transferred to 28 private bank accounts. “The owner did not receive any messages on his cellphone as the suspects had registered the same number with the bank,” he said. The complainant could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.

