Where lies the axis of this fraud?

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One day after the cheating of a doctor in Lakeshore hospital by nearly Rs 12 lakh from his online bank account came to light, the police team that investigates the case hinted that they suspect the involvement of a major racket in the case.

As the money has been transferred after unlocking a highly secure password system, the police also suspect the involvement of a bank employee and a person who is close to the doctor. Dr. R. Shabbir Khan, an oncologist in Lakeshore hospital was the person who fell victim to the cyber scam.

An AXIS bank account with three-layer password system, which he thought safe and secure, was hacked and Rs 11,14,500 was transferred to 20 different bank accounts on March 30.

The police tracked the Kotak Mahindra bank account in Secundrabad, one of the accounts to which the money was transferred, and it is learnt that it was taken in the name of an IT professional who has been absconding for over a month.

“Investigation, so far, proves there is a big racket involved in this case. The money has been transferred after unlocking three passwords. It points at the accessibility of such details,” said P.S. Suneesh Babu circle inspector Kochi central police station.

He says more than one person was involved in the fraudulent transaction considering the modus operandi. Meanwhile, Dr Khan received an sms from an unidentified number on Thursday offering help to know more about the fraud transactions. The doctor has informed the police team about the sms, and an investigation has begun in this direction too.

Dr. Khan also confirmed he’d neither disclosed his password to anyone nor had written it anywhere. The doctor also believes the transaction wouldn’t have happened without the involvement of a bank employee. Dr. Khan who has been saving all his salary to do a post graduation at Buckingham University in United Kingdom, is clueless about his study prospects now.

“I’d stored the entire fee in that savings account, so that, I could withdraw the money and pay whenever the university asked for it,” he told Deccan Chronicle.

Meanwhile, the beleaguered doctor has neither received any assurance from the police nor from the bank on the fate of the money he lost. While police say it is difficult to crack such a well-planned swindling case, bank authorities told him they’d no responsibility for any online thefts.

“The bank authorities bizarrely compared this incident to a theft at a house. They said the manufacturer of the almirah is not responsible for the lost wealth, if a robber breaks its lock.

But, one cannot compare a physical theft case to an online one. This means the authorities have no responsibility over the money remitted by any person in that bank,” the doctor lamented. However, the branch head of Axis Bank at Rajaji Road, where the victim has his account, Noble Paul refused to go on record when contacted. “I’ve nothing to say,” was all he would say.

Meanwhile, police are pretty clueless on the case as the investigation is reaching nowhere. The racket had set a master plan to swindle the money and also the involvement of bank accounts at Kolkata and Secundrabad puzzles the cops. The police also said the details of the 18 accounts were not handed over to them yet by the AXIS bank, which delays the investigation.

Lakeshore doctors in panic

The news about Dr Shabbir Khan being siphoned off `11.14 lakh has come as a shocker for the doctors in Lakeshore hospital.

The officials are in panic as all their salaries are parked in AXIS bank. The main account of the Lakeshore hospital is also in the same bank, giving fears to the management.

Managing Director of the hospital, Dr Philip Augustine held a talk with the AXIS Bank Rajaji road branch head Noble Paul in the presence of Dr Shabbir Khan on Tuesday to ensure the security provided by the bank.

It is learnt the Lakeshore doctors with bigger amounts in account are set to withdraw the money soon. They fear their accounts are also vulnerable to similar attacks, considering the circumstances.

Dr Augustine has also warned the bank that if it fails to solve Dr Khan’s issue, all the accounts in AXIS bank would be withdrawn immediately.

How nearly Rs 12 lakh was transferred to 20 different bank accounts across the country

The racket collected the first two passwords - login password and transaction password - of
Dr Khan, beforehand.

2. To obtain the third password, which is sent to the person’s mobile number during the transaction, the racket blocked doctor’s mobile sim card on March 30
3. They collected a duplicate sim card from the mobile service provider after producing a fake copy of Dr Khan’s passport the same day.

Money worth Rs 11,64,500 was transferred to 18 AXIS bank accounts, one ICICI account in Kolkata and one Kotak Mahindra account in Secundrabad.

5. On March 30 night, Dr Khan realized his sim had been blocked
6. On March 31, he applied for a duplicate sim only to realize it’d already been issued.
7. He blocked the duplicate sim and collected a triplicate sim.

On March 31 night, he received an AXIS bank sms about bouncing back of Rs 50,000 to his account.

He checked his account on April 1 and realized Rs 11,14,500 was lost