Chandigarh: The cybercrime police have registered a case against unidentified suspects after a local resident was defrauded of ₹2.8 lakh in unauthorised card transactions triggered by a malicious WhatsApp message.Ambrish Kumar of Industrial Area Phase 1 reported receiving this message from an unknown sender containing a file labeled “RTO TRAFFIC CHALLAN” at about noon on Aug 6, 2026. An hour later, he received an unprompted SMS containing a one-time password related to identity authentication, followed by multiple transaction alerts.It’s written in the complaint that four unauthorised transactions on the man’s IndusInd Bank credit card totalled ₹2.5 lakh. An additional ₹34,000 was drawn from his debit card via a point-of-sale transaction logged at Muthoot Finance in Mumbai.The resident said he had attempted to call bank customer service, but after being put on hold, visited the IndusInd Bank branch in Sector 8, Chandigarh, to report the fraud in person and request that his cards be blocked and the transactions reversed.The debit card transaction for a little more than ₹34,000 allegedly occurred at 2.10pm while Ambrish was inside the branch filing the report. He subsequently reported the fraud to the national cybercrime helpline 1930.He also filed a complaint at the Sector 17 cybercrime police station and emailed the bank’s customer service department to formally document the incident.In his complaint, he requested authorities to trace and freeze the funds, besides preserving the branch CCTV footage, system logs, employee audit trails, and precise transaction timestamps. Cyber police confirmed an investigation was in progress to trace the perpetrators.
