Ahmedabad Trader loses ₹1.39 Lakh in Alleged UPI Fraud after Unauthorised Bank Transactions

A 20-year-old trader from Ahmedabad has allegedly lost nearly ₹1.39 lakh after fraudsters gained unauthorised access to his Union Bank account and carried out multiple UPI transactions over two days. Meghaninagar police have registered a cyber fraud case against unidentified persons and launched an investigation into the digital trail.

Fraud detected after OTP alerts

The complainant, Prince Nareshbhai Patni, a resident of Kalapinagar who runs an egg retail business with his father, told police that the fraudulent transactions took place on July 14 and 15.

According to the FIR, Patni had visited an Apple service centre in Maninagar on the evening of July 15 to create an Apple ID for his iPhone. While at the service centre, he began receiving multiple one-time password (OTP) messages on his mobile phone.

Suspecting something was amiss, he checked his Union Bank mobile banking application and found that five separate transactions of ₹15,000 each, totalling ₹75,000, had already been debited from his account on July 14.

Multiple UPI transfers drained account

The complainant further discovered a series of unauthorised UPI transactions carried out within minutes on July 15. These included transfers of ₹20,000, ₹10,000, ₹10,000, ₹8,999, ₹9,999, ₹4,999 and several other amounts, taking the total debits over the two days to ₹1.58 lakh.

Patni immediately contacted the bank’s customer care and requested that his account be frozen to prevent any further unauthorised transactions.

Net loss pegged at ₹1.39 lakh

Police said credits amounting to ₹19,999 were subsequently reversed to the complainant’s account, reducing the net financial loss to ₹1,38,997.

The trader also lodged a complaint through the National Cyber Crime Helpline (1930) and received a complaint reference number. However, he later approached Meghaninagar police to register a formal FIR, stating that personal commitments had delayed his visit to the police station.

Police launch cyber fraud probe

According to the complaint, an unidentified person allegedly gained unauthorised access to the complainant’s bank account and fraudulently transferred the money using a UPI ID.

Meghaninagar police have registered a case under relevant provisions related to cheating and cyber fraud. Investigators said efforts are under way to trace the digital trail, identify the beneficiary accounts and ascertain how the fraudsters gained access to the bank account.