Vinod M Jain
A 27-year-old private firm employee from BTM Layout has allegedly lost ₹7.17 lakh to cyber fraudsters after his mobile number was fraudulently ported to another telecom network and used to gain unauthorized access to his bank accounts.
According to a complaint filed with the South East CEN Police Station on Sunday, victim a resident of BTM Layout,had been using mobile number for the past 10 years. On May 25, 2026,he noticed that his mobile connection had suddenly been deactivated. When he approached the Airtel service centre the following day, he was informed that his number had been ported to Jio without his knowledge or consent.
Further inquiry revealed that the ownership of the mobile number had allegedly been changed from victim to a person identified as “Shahbaz Ansari.”
The complainant stated that he had no acquaintance or connection with the said individual.Following the discovery, he lodged a lost report at Mico Layout Police Station on May 27,2026 .
The complainant also alleged that between May 27 and May 29, the email address linked to his HDFC Bank Customer ID was changed without his authorization to carry out unauthorized transactions from his accounts, including transfers from his overdraft,savings,and current accounts to unknown accounts.
The victim further stated that the fraudsters gained access to his banking services after illegally porting his mobile number and using it to bypass authentication mechanisms.
A total of ₹7,17,660 was allegedly siphoned off through multiple unauthorized transactions.
Based on the complaint, police have registered a case under Sections 66(C) and 66(D) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, pertaining to identity theft and cheating by personation using computer resources.
The case has also been booked under Sections 318(4) and 319(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, relating to cheating and impersonation.
Police have launched an investigation to identify the accused and trace the diverted funds.Similar complaint has been filed by another victim, with the central division cyber crime police on Saturday.
According to the complaint, on May 28, 2026,at around 1.30 pm, the complainant received a call from mobile number 8539092887 on his number 9845373299.
The caller introduced himself as an executive of Airtel and claimed that the complainant’s SIM card needed to be upgraded to an e-SIM.
The caller allegedly collected the complainant’s email ID and his mother’s name under the pretext of processing the e-SIM request. Subsequently, a 32-digit code was sent through WhatsApp from mobile number 9546636565.
Believing it to be part of the activation process, the complainant entered the code into the Airtel application.
Soon after,the complainant’s physical SIM card lost network connectivity.On the same day,he received a Google account alert regarding changes to his account, but ignored the notification.
When the SIM card remained inactive the following day, May 29,the complainant approached an Airtel office and was informed that no e-SIM had been activated on his mobile number.
Suspecting fraud,he then contacted HSBC Bank regarding his account bearing number 071663306006 (IFSC: HSBC0560002).
During verification,the bank informed him that an unauthorized transaction of ₹3,00,000 had been carried out from his account on May 29, 2026.
Police suspect that the fraudsters used the e-SIM scam to gain control of the victim’s mobile number, intercept banking authentication messages and execute the fraudulent transfer.
