‘KYC update’ link cons elderly man out of Rs 4 lakh

An elderly man lost more than Rs 4 lakh after responding to an SMS that asked him to update his Know Your Customer (KYC) details with his telecom service provider.

Kasavanahalli resident Kumar, 65 (not his real name), lodged a complaint with the Whitefield CEN Crime police on December 28, two weeks after the online fraud.

Kumar said he received the SMS on December 14. He was asked to update the KYC details on a link to be given later. The link arrived the next day. When he responded to the instructions given in the link, Rs 4,06,472 was debited from his bank account.

Police have opened a case under the Information Technology Act and IPC sections 420 (cheating) and 419 (punishment for cheating by personation).