MNC executive loses Rs 1.30 lakh to debit card cloning

A senior executive of a US-based multinational has fallen prey to debit card cloning and lost Rs 1.30 lakh in the process.

The Citibank debit card of Vikas Bhonsale, based in Mumbai and working with a US-based hardware major here, was cloned and Rs 1.30 lakh withdrawn from an ATM centre in Hyderabad yesterday, police said today.

Bhonsale got a rude shock last evening when he received 13 text messages on his mobile phone within a span of five minutes informing him about withdrawal of Rs 1.30 lakh from his account from an ATM in Hyderabad.

42-year-old Bhonsale immediately called up customer care number of Citibank and asked it to block the card as he had not carried out the transaction, police said.

"As he was getting ready to go to the hospital, he had kept the phone aside and ignored the messages for a while. But he was shocked to read the messages which stated that Rs 1.30 lakh had been withdrawn using his ATM card. A total of 13 transactions were made and each time Rs 10,000 was withdrawn," said a police officer.

Since Bhonsale holds Citi Gold, a premium debit card, he can withdraw cash up to Rs 1.50 lakh a day.

Police said the card had been cloned and used to make the fraudulent withdrawals. Bhonsale often frequented Hyderabad as part of his job.

Motiram Kadam, Senior Inspector at Vanrai Police Station, said, "We today received a written complaint from Bhonsale. We have started a preliminary inquiry and are taking the assistance of Cyber Cell."

Citibank, however, did not respond to queries from PTI related to the matter.

Meanwhile, late in the night a Citigroup India official told PTI that the affected customer was paid the money back.

"The bank has already credited back the said Rs 1.30 lakh to the affected customer's account, pending the ongoing police investigation," the official said.