Thane, Bombay (Mumbai): He woke up one morning to find almost rupees two lakh deducted from his debit account by a ‘ghost shopper’, who apparently went on a shopping spree! He stared at his debit card in his hand, scratching his head in disbelief, after which he let out a yell and a torrent of vocabulary unfit to print….

A consultant with a foreign-based telecom company working here was allegedly duped of Rs 1.68 lakhs by an unknown person who misused his debit card for making transactions, police said today (Jan 6).

The victim, Sunil Suresh Dwivedi, told Wagle Estate police in Thane city that on December 29, 2016, when he woke up from sleep and checked his mobile phone, he found as many as 17 messages from his bank related to transactions done between 3.27 AM and 3.56 AM that day, worth a total of Rs 1.95 lakhs.

He alleged that the transactions were made when the debit card was with him here, and he had not revealed any of the card information/ details to anyone, police said.

The complainant listed the 17 debits made from his card, including transactions purported to have been done in USA and Paris, they said.

The complainant also informed the police that later that day, a couple of transactions were reversed and the total amount debited from his account was Rs 1.68 lakhs, he said.

The Wagle Estate police yesterday registered an FIR in this connection under IPC sections 420 (cheating), 467 and 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and relevant provisions of the IT Act.

Further probe in the case is on, police added.

  cash ban, cyber crime, debit card, demonetization, fraud