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Karnataka Top Cop Falls Prey to Cyber Crime, Loses Rs 2 Lakh After Sharing Bank Details With Crooks

The cyber criminals made away Rs 2 lakh after taking debit card details from Internal Security Division (ISD) chief Ashit Mohan Prasad in just one hour.

Bengaluru: In a major embarrassment to the state police department, the Internal Security Division (ISD) chief Ashit Mohan Prasad fell prey to internet fraudsters who made away Rs 2 lakh after taking debit card details from him in just one hour. 

Prasad is one of the seniormost officers in the State and is currently serving the top rank of Director General of Police. According to the the complaint lodged with Cyber Crime Wing of Criminal Investigation Department, at around 3pm on Monday, Prasad received two phone calls wherein the callers identified themselves as bank officials.

The first caller told Prasad that his debit card would expire soon and asked to reactivate it on his behalf. The police officer shared the debit card details. After some time, he got another call wherein he was asked to share details of another bank’s debit card. Within minutes of parting with the info, Prasad received a computer generated ‘cash withdrawal’ SMS that said Rs 1 lakh each was transferred from his two bank accounts.

He called the bank authorities, only to learn that they never called him and that it is a standard procedure of the bank to not to seek any information of any customer over phone.

A M Prasad, a 1985 batch IPS officer, filed a complaint with CID on Tuesday. “I received calls when I was in the middle of some important work. The callers told me that my debit card validity is about to end and they need information to reactivate it. I didn’t pay attention and gave them the details. It was my negligence.” Prasad told News 18.

In 2015, the then DGIGP Om Prakash had lost Rs 10,000 after he shared his bank credentials with cyber crooks. He had later registered plaint with the cyber police who arrested Ashraf Ali, a Delhi-based conman.

Sources said more than 3,000 cases have been registered at the Bengaluru Cyber Crime Police station this year and a majority of them are about people having fallen prey to phishing.