A chartered accountant in Lucknow has reported the loss of ₹1.70 lakh from his bank accounts at ICICI Bank and IndusInd Bank. The incident occurred after he responded to a WhatsApp message that falsely claimed ₹90,000 had been debited from his account. This case highlights a growing concern over social-engineering scams targeting bank customers, where fraudsters manipulate individuals into revealing sensitive information or making unauthorized transactions.
The victim received a WhatsApp message informing him that ₹90,000 had been withdrawn from his bank account, according to police. Police advised victims of cyber fraud to immediately inform their bank and report the matter through the national cybercrime helpline, 1930, to improve the chances of recovering stolen funds. Because the victim reportedly did not click on any suspicious link, share a one time password (OTP), disclose banking credentials or install any remote-access application before the money was siphoned off, the incident is unusual.
The message was followed by another instruction asking him to reply “No” if he had not authorised the transaction. Authorities have urged citizens not to respond to unsolicited messages claiming money has been debited from their accounts.
Soon afterwards, unauthorised transactions were allegedly carried out from his ICICI Bank and IndusInd Bank accounts, resulting in a combined loss of ₹1.70 lakh. Additional DCP (Crime) Kiran Yadav said the case has been reported and is being examined to determine how the fraud was executed. Believing it to be a genuine security alert, the victim responded to the message. Investigators are looking into the sequence of events and the nature of the WhatsApp communication received by the victim. The case has sparked concerns about what could be a new form of WhatsApp-based social engineering. Fraudsters allegedly used a fake banking alert to create panic and then prompted the victim to interact with the message by sending a simple reply.
However, cybersecurity experts have cautioned against drawing conclusions before a detailed forensic investigation is completed. Experts point out that replying to a WhatsApp message alone does not ordinarily provide an external sender with complete control over a smartphone. They say the exact technical mechanism behind the incident can only be established after analysing the victim’s device, WhatsApp account activity and banking transaction records.