Ex-Union minister Dayanidhi Maran duped of ₹99,999 via net banking fraud

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Dayanidhi Maran on October 10 said he has been duped of ₹99,999 through a net banking fraud. Sharing the details on social media, Maran said ₹99,999 was “stolen" from his Axis Bank personal savings account through a net banking transfer via “IDFC First Bank-Billdesk". The transaction, which was not initiated by him, bypassed “all normal safety protocols", he added.

An OTP, the standard protocol for such transactions, was neither generated nor received on the mobile number linked to the bank account, Maran stated in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Instead, a call was made to the account's joint holder - my wife's number and the fraudsters had the gall to ask if the transaction had taken place. They pretended to be from the bank but had @cbic_india on their display picture.

This confirmed my suspicions and I immediately proceeded to block all activities on my account (sic)," he added. Exciting news! Mint is now on WhatsApp Channels. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest financial insights! Click here! The DMK leader said he was puzzled by how the the fraudsters accessed his personal information and breached security protocols “with such ease".

This was not a phishing attack nor were any sensitive details divulged, he posted. “Axis Bank was clueless as to how the attack had happened nor could they give any solid explanation for why the OTP was not required from my number for the transaction to take place," Maran added. Maran, who held the Communications & IT in the erstwhile UPA government, said that when a fraud of this manner could be committed against someone who is aware of tech and cautious with private data, then “what about first-time digital users and senior citizens?" The