OTP fraudsters strike, this time from Pakistan

An expatriate has claimed to have fallen victim to a One Time Password (OTP) theft to fraudsters in Pakistan. A Manama resident claimed cybercriminals stole his OTP, which was then used to transfer money from his account. “A total of BD10 was taken from my prepaid Sim card account by fraudsters,” said Indian national Reghu. Money, he said, was transferred from his account to a phone number in Pakistan on multiple occasions.

According to him, the fraudsters initiated the transaction and subsequently stole the OTP to authorise the money transfer.  “This happened a few days ago,” he said adding: “At first, they took BD 2 and later another couple of dinars and repeated until it reached BD10.” “This is strange because the money was transferred to an account in Pakistan, where I have no business.” He said the telecommunication company was informed of the situation. “I contacted the telecommunication company and informed them of the situation.

They send me an email yesterday stating that they are investigating the issue. I hope that they will be able to reach the bottom of this very soon.”  “I am extremely worried at the moment as the phone number is also tied to my bank account here. “If they use any sort of OTP fraud in my bank account, I will be in huge trouble. “I will be going to the bank now to alert them about the situation and ask them not to transfer any money without my authorisation. “I don’t know how they are able to access my OTP,” Reghu said without hiding his concern. “My phone, I had never given it to anyone,” he said.

OTP theft can happen in two ways

According to experts, OTP theft can happen in two ways. The first method involves fraudsters posing as bank employees and convincing the victims to give away the OTP. The second method involves infecting the victim’s phone with a malware which is then used to forward the OTP to the perpetrators.