Key Takeaways
- Rs 99,999 was stolen from the MP’s account but later retrieved.
- Axis Bank confirmed the funds were traced and returned.
- The fraud involved impersonation of bank employees and a missing one-time password.
Chennai: A sum of Rs 99,999 stolen from the account of DMK Lok Sabha MP and former Union Minister Dayanidhi Maran by online cyber crime fraudsters, has been retrieved.
The money stolen from the bank account of Mr Dayanidhi Maran has been retrieved, the Axis bank, where he holds an account, said.
This followed a complaint registered by Mr Dayanidhi with the Cyber Crime Wing of the Chennai police that Rs 99,999 was stolen from his account by online fraudsters.
In the complaint, he alleged that online fraudsters had stolen Rs 99,999 from his Axis Bank savings account through a net banking transfer, bypassing all normal safety protocols.
A one-time password, the standard security method employed for such transactions, was neither generated nor received on his linked mobile number. Instead, the fraudsters, impersonating as bank employees, had called the MP’s wife, who is the joint account holder, over the phone and enquired if the transaction had gone through.
Mr.Dayanidhi Maran wondered as to how the fraudsters had accessed his personal information and breached security protocols with such ease.
Noting that this wasn’t a phishing attack nor were any sensitive details divulged, he has requested the bank to share how the scammers accessed his personal data, such as username and password.
The Axis Bank responded to him on X (formerly Twitter), saying that the funds had been traced and the amount credited back to his account and that it was reported to the Cyber Crime Cell for investigation.
Further investigation is on to trace the criminals and find out their modus operandi, police said.
