Kolkata: A 66-year-old Kolkata resident, Alok Daga, lost ₹2.6 lakh to a debit card cloning fraud over a span of just three days, shortly after using his card at a diagnostic facility in the city.
Speaking to NewsMobile, Daga said the incident occurred between March 5 and March 7, with subsequent findings by his bank and local police indicating that his card details were likely compromised during the transaction at the facility.
The first sign of fraud was a nominal debit of ₹1 from his account — a tactic often used by cybercriminals to test stolen card credentials. “I didn’t take it very seriously at the time,” Daga said.
Soon after, a series of unauthorized transactions followed. According to Daga, fraudsters cloned his debit card details and created a Unified Payments Interface (UPI) account linked to it — without triggering any OTP alerts or verification requests on his phone.
“In total, ₹2.6 lakh was withdrawn from my account,” he said.
Daga immediately contacted the national cybercrime helpline, 1930, and initiated recovery procedures. He described the response as “very professional,” noting that authorities acted swiftly to contain the damage.
Due to timely reporting, ₹2.1 lakh was recovered. However, ₹50,000 — which had been withdrawn earlier — could not be retrieved as it was reported after a delay of about a week.
He also acknowledged the role of local police officials in the recovery process.
The case highlights how cybercriminals use small “test” transactions to validate stolen card details before executing larger frauds, and underscores the importance of reporting suspicious activity immediately. Experts advise consumers to closely monitor bank activity, enable transaction alerts, and promptly report even minor unauthorised debits to improve chances of recovery.
