An ailing journalist K. Nagaraju was robbed of Rs. 1.2 lakh online by a gang that is believed to be working from Northern States. The journalist was tricked into parting his State Bank of India’s debit card details over the phone.

The Central Crime Station (CCS) began the probe based on the complaint by the friends of the journalist and collected details of transactions’ made using the card. Mr. Nagaraju who is battling cancer submitted a written application to SBI’s branch in Khammam district to change his phone number for alerts regarding transactions.

A person claiming to be a bank employee called up Mr. Nagaraju and sought the details of his debit card. Suspicion grew when the caller questioned him over the bank balance and got the debit card blocked. When he reactivated the card and changed the PIN, he learnt about the fraud when he found only few hundred rupees in his account as he tried to withdraw money.

The offenders made transactions which came to a total of Rs. 1.2 lakh from the account for bulk recharges of mobile phones. Police state that an inter-State gang could be behind the fraud