TIRUPATI: An online fraudster emptied Rs 97,699 from the bank account of Kurnool Member of Parliament Dr Sanjeev Kumar.
The YSRC MP who realised that he was duped by the online scammer later lodged a complaint with the Kurnool II town police.
The police lodged a case and have laid a hunt for the online miscreant.
According to Kurnool police, the MP first received an SMS which read that his bank account was blocked as he did not update his PAN card details. The message prompted him to open a link and fill in all the details to get his bank account unblocked.
Dr Sanjeev Kumar simply fell into the trap laid by the online fraudster and filled in all the details after clicking the link in the SMS.
Later, when the online scammer called up the MP posing himself as a bank staffer, asking for the one time password (OTP), the latter simply shared the OTP, without any second thoughts. The online fraudster emptied Rs 97,699 from the MP's bank account in two transactions and it was only when he received messages suggesting withdrawal from his bank account, the MP realise that he was duped.
Following a complaint lodged by Dr Sanjeev Kumar, Kurnool II town police have registered a case and are further investigating.
Police have once again appealed to the public not to open links sent from random messages as the instances of similar online frauds have been on the rise.
