{
  "type": "article",
  "title": "West Bengal Businessman Loses Rs 6 Lakh From Bank Account Without Sharing OTP or Answering Any Call",
  "summary": "A businessman in Durgapur, West Bengal, saw Rs 6 lakh vanish from his bank account despite never sharing an OTP, clicking a link, or answering a suspicious call.",
  "content": "A businessman in Durgapur, West Bengal, says Rs 6 lakh disappeared from his bank account within a matter of hours, even though he never shared an OTP, never clicked on a suspicious link and never answered a single unknown call. The debit alert left his entire family stunned, and the case has unsettled the whole industrial belt of Durgapur.\n\nMultiple Calls Hit His Phone On Monday\nAccording to the details available, Prabuddha Guha, a businessman who lives in the Vidhannagar area of Durgapur, started receiving a string of phone calls on his mobile on Monday. Guha did not answer any of these calls, nor did he give out his OTP to anyone. Sensing that something was off about the repeated calls, he alerted his bank's officials right away, hoping to keep his account safe from any potential threat.\n\nEven Informing The Bank Didn't Save The Money\nGuha had expected that flagging the calls to his bank in time would protect his account. But allegedly, just a few hours after he informed the bank, a message landed on his phone confirming that Rs 6 lakh had been debited from his account. Reading that message left him shaken, since he insists he never shared any detail that could have allowed such a transaction to go through.\n\nSavings Meant For Treatment And His Son's Admission\nThe incident has left the entire family shaken. They say the Rs 6 lakh was the last of their savings, painstakingly set aside to cover medical treatment expenses and their son's admission to school. With the whole amount gone in one stroke, the family is now under severe financial stress. Written complaints have already been filed with various administrative departments, and officials have opened an investigation to determine exactly how the money was withdrawn without an OTP or an answered call.\n\nFraudsters Keep Changing Their Playbook\nScammers have been constantly switching up their methods to drain victims' bank accounts, and cyber fraud in particular has become one of the most talked-about forms of this crime. Typically, fraudsters gain access to a victim's phone either by tricking them into sharing an OTP or by getting them to click a malicious link, and then use that access to siphon off funds. In this Durgapur case, the businessman maintains he made neither mistake, yet his account was still emptied, which is what makes the case especially troubling for investigators. The episode has also rattled other local residents, since if an account can be emptied despite every precaution, ordinary depositors have every reason to worry.\n\nWhat this means for you\nThe case is a reminder that avoiding OTP sharing and unknown calls alone doesn't guarantee your bank account is safe, extra precautions are now necessary.\n\n• Across India: Bank customers everywhere need to understand that fraudsters can now empty an account even without directly asking for an OTP. Keeping a close watch on transaction alerts and SMS messages, and immediately calling the bank to block cards and net banking at the first sign of trouble, is essential.\n• In Durgapur, West Bengal: Residents and businessmen in Durgapur's industrial belt should step up regular monitoring of their bank accounts. Alongside filing a complaint with the local police and cyber cell, it is worth asking the bank branch for written confirmation of exactly how the money was withdrawn.\n• Speed of complaint matters: Reporting fraud immediately through the 1930 helpline or the cyber crime portal improves the chances of recovering the money, any delay raises the risk of funds moving further into other accounts.\n• Bank accountability: If the customer had already alerted the bank before the debit happened, questions will be raised about the bank's own security response. Customers have the right to demand a written investigation report from their bank.\n\nWhy this happened\nExactly how the money was withdrawn in this case has not yet been established, and both the police and the bank are still investigating. Based on similar cases reported elsewhere and the common tactics used in cyber fraud, a few likely explanations can be considered.\n\n• Investigation still underway: Police and bank officials have not yet confirmed the exact method used to withdraw the funds, so the precise cause remains unclear for now.\n• SIM swap or malware possibility: In comparable cases, fraudsters have gained account access through SIM swaps, malware already present on a victim's phone, or previously leaked data, even without the victim sharing any fresh information at the time.\n• Repeated calls as a warning sign: A string of back-to-back calls is often part of an attempt by fraudsters to distract a victim or push them into making a panicked mistake that allows the fraud to go through.\n• Similar cases reported before: Comparable incidents have surfaced in the country previously, where money was withdrawn without an OTP being shared, and investigations later pointed to gaps in banking systems or mobile networks.\n\nQuestions & Answers\n\n1. Which Durgapur businessman lost money from his account?\nThe money vanished from the bank account of Prabuddha Guha, a businessman from the Vidhannagar area of Durgapur.\n\n2. How much money was debited from the account?\nRs 6 lakh was debited from his bank account.\n\n3. Did he share an OTP with anyone?\nNo, he neither gave out an OTP to anyone nor answered any suspicious call.\n\n4. When did the incident happen?\nMultiple calls came to his mobile on Monday, and a few hours later he received a message about the debit.\n\n5. What happened after he informed the bank?\nA few hours after he informed the bank, he received a message on his mobile saying Rs 6 lakh had been debited.\n\n6. What was this money meant for?\nThe family says it was their last savings, set aside for medical treatment expenses and their son's school admission.\n\n7. Was a complaint filed over the incident?\nYes, written complaints have been filed with various administrative departments and an investigation has begun.",
  "url": "https://trendkia.com/en/west-bengal/bina-otp-sheyara-kie-bhi-durgapur-ke-karobari-ka-bainka-khata-hua-khali-6-lakha-rupaye-gayaba-29485",
  "category": "West Bengal",
  "publishedAt": "2026-09-08",
  "tags": [
    "cyber fraud",
    "bank account fraud",
    "Durgapur",
    "West Bengal",
    "OTP fraud",
    "online fraud",
    "banking security"
  ],
  "language": "en",
  "site": "TrendKia"
}