Woman gets call from own number, loses money on sharing OTP

Gourab Neto, MP, 4 Jan 2024 : A citizen of Kolkata has faced a new form of cyber-attack recently which involved receiving a call from one’s own phone number and subsequently losing money on sharing the OTP. 

According to the victim, Sumita Bhaskar of Patuli area, an employee of a vernacular media house, on Tuesday she received a call from her own mobile number. When she picked up the call, an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system prompted her to choose an option to avert a fraudulent transaction that was being attempted on a financial platform she uses to pay for online shopping platforms. 

This financial platform operates like a credit card through which payments can be done in one tap. Initially, she disconnected the call when the IVR instructed her to provide an OTP. When for the fourth time she got a call, Bhaskar got convinced and provided the OTP. As soon as she provided the OTP sent to her through SMS, about Rs 2800 was debited from her account in that financial platform. 

On checking her phone, she found an order of groceries was placed through an application for quick delivery and the money was paid using the financial platform. 

While checking the grocery delivery app, she found that the delivery person was on his way to deliver the goods. 

On calling the delivery person, she learnt the order was placed from Amritsar. Immediately, she narrated the incident to the delivery person and requested not to deliver the goods. After a while she also got a call from the grocery shopping app for inquiry purposes. 

Later, the order was cancelled and the money was returned to the financial platform. 

“I am thankful to the delivery person who helped me a lot by not delivering the goods and informed the matter to his office,” said Bhaskar. However, Bhaskar did not lodge any complaint as she got back her money. 

https://www.millenniumpost.in/bengal/woman-gets-call-from-own-number-loses-money-on-sharing-otp-546779