Ahmedabad: Next time you get a promotional call, beware. Swiping the green button to receive the call could cost you dearly like in the case of a 34-year-old man from the Shyamal area. The moment the man received the seemingly harmless call, his bank balance got shorter by Rs 56,113. No OTPs shared, no details disclosed and yet, the money was gone. Satellite police registered the case only on Tuesday, a year after the April 21, 2025 cyberfraud.The man, who works at a restaurant in Prahlad Nagar and has been living as a tenant in the city for two years, stated in his complaint that around noon that day, he received a call from an unknown number. The caller, a female, offered information related to loans. Assuming it to be a routine promotional call, the man disconnected, without engaging further. What followed alarmed him. He began receiving multiple calls from different numbers, which he chose to ignore. Simultaneously, several OTP (one-time password) messages allegedly started flooding his phone.Suspicious over the frequency of the messages, he switched off his phone. When he turned it back on after about 20 minutes, he was shocked to find SMS alerts indicating that Rs 51,113 and Rs 5,000 had been debited from his account.He immediately contacted a friend, who advised him to report the matter to the cyber helpline. The victim registered an online complaint and received an acknowledgement. Due to a lack of awareness about legal procedures and his busy schedule, he did not approach the police station at the time, assuming the online complaint would suffice and his money would be recovered.Realizing the need for formal action, he recently approached Satellite police who lodged an FIR under the Information Technology Act and are investigating the money trail.
