- By Shibra Arshad
- Tue, 02 Dec 2025 05:10 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Mumbai Cyber Crime: As many as 20,000 cases of digital financial fraud have been recorded over the past five years, resulting in a loss of Rs 2,000 crore to Mumbaikers. While Mumbai lost a hefty sum to the surge of financial crimes from 2020, the recoveries reportedly remain minimal.
The list of victims spans from businessmen to retirees, who are not only duped by sophisticated scammers who clone cards and steal data, but also trapped by banks that routinely refuse reimbursement despite the zero-liability rules by the RBI.
According to a report by the Times of India, out of the total cases, 4,132 FIRs were registered for credit or debit card fraud, ATM fraud, SIM swap, cloning, activation and OTP sharing, leading to a loss of Rs 161.5 crores by victims and police recovering only Rs 4.8 crore.
Fraudsters used many methods to dupe citizens of their hard-earned money, including cloning credit cards.
Card In Purse, Yet Mumbai Businesswoman Loses Rs 2.5 Lakhs
In one example, Sakinaka resident Romaljit Kaur Makkar, a businesswoman, lost Rs 2.5 lakh after her credit card was cloned. On April 3, while attending a meeting in a Mumbai office with her card in her possession, fraudulent transactions were carried out on a merchant machine in Lucknow. Several fraudulent transactions were made within minutes. Shockingly, Makkar still had the original card with her when the money disappeared.
As per the police, the scammers had cloned the card details earlier and used the duplicate chip in Lucknow to carry out the theft.
As per Makkar, her PIN could have been stolen from CCTV footage during the shopping earlier that day.
Retired Engineer Bullied By Recovery Agents
In another such instance, a retired engineer, Navneet Batra (64) of Borivli East, has received daily calls from recovery agents and legal notices since March 2023 due to four fraudulent transfers of Rs 1.9 lakh.
He alleged that scamsters stole his card details to buy herbal products from Bihar. And despite filing an FIR with Dahisar police and getting the card blocked, the bank has not reversed the transactions.
What RBI Rules Say About Credit Card Fraud
As per the rules set by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), customers do not owe anything to the credit card company if they report the case of credit card fraud within three days. Customers may have to pay between Rs 10,000 to Rs 25000, depending on the card limit.
Credit Card Scam: When Will Customers Have To Pay
- If the victim was careless (shared your PIN, OTP, or card details), the victim loses the money that was taken before you report the fraud. After the customer informs the bank, any further loss is covered by the bank.
- If the customer was not careless, the bank has to return your money (zero liability).
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- In all cases, the bank must refund the amount within 10 working days and settle any remaining complaints within 90 days.