Bengaluru fraud: Woman duped in first-of-its-kind fake IVR call from 'nationalised bank'

The police have filed a case under the Information Technology Act and Section 318 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code.

In a first-of-its-kind cybercrime incident in Bengaluru, a 57-year-old woman lost Rs 2 lakh after falling victim to a fraudulent IVR (Interactive Voice Response) call that appeared to come from a nationalised bank.

The incident occurred on January 20, as reported by the Times of India.

The woman, identified as Sumitra (name changed), a resident of Dattatreyanagar in Hosakerehalli, received the suspicious call at around 3.55 pm. She initially believed the call was from the State Bank of India (SBI), as the number displayed matched that of the bank, and she had an account with SBI.

The IVR message, delivered in English, stated: “Rs 2 lakh is being transferred from your account to another account. If you made the transaction, press 3; if you did not, press 1.”

"I was shocked on hearing the voice message as I had not initiated any transaction," Sumitra told the police as quoted by TOI. “I did not press any number initially, but the voice message repeated multiple times. I got confused and eventually pressed 1, as I hadn’t made the transaction.” The call then prompted her with another message: “Please visit your bank and contact the manager immediately,” before disconnecting.

After checking her bank account, Sumitra noticed a deficit of Rs 2 lakh. Panicked, she rushed to the bank, where the manager advised her to immediately report the incident to the cyber helpline (1930). The bank also suggested contacting the concerned authorities to freeze the fraudster’s account.

Sumitra then reported the matter to the cyber helpline and filed a complaint with Girinagar police. The police have filed a case under the Information Technology Act and Section 318 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code.

A senior police official said that, commonly, fraudsters using IVR calls aim to collect sensitive information like debit card details, bank account numbers, or other personal credentials from victims. However, in Sumitra’s case, no such information was shared by her.

The officer said that it’s highly unlikely that money can be siphoned off simply by pressing a button, such as 1 or 3, without the victim sharing sensitive details, adding that she may have responded to the voice message and provided some information that enabled the fraudsters to access her account.

If she is not hiding anything, then this is something new for the police, the officer said, adding that things will get clearer only after investigation.