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Unidentified cyber criminals cheated a daily wage labourer in Pandalur district of Rs 1 lakh by collecting his one-time password (OTP) number over the phone, posing as bank officials.

According to sources, Viswanathan of Ambedkhar Colony in Pandalur taluk was working as a daily wage labourer in a tea estate. He has kept his Employee’s Provident Fund (EPF) amount in his personal account in Indian Bank in Pandalur.

Viswanathan received a call from an unidentified person stating he was from the bank’s head office in Chennai and wanted the OTP number he would receive on his mobile phone.

Initially, Viswanathan had doubts but shared the OTP after the person mentioned the address and account number correctly. But later he found that Rs 1 lakh had been withdrawn from his account, the money from his EPF.

A case has been registered at the cyber crime police station.

S Sivasubramaniam, general secretary of the Consumer Protection Centre Gudalur, said though there was growing awareness among the public, many were still falling a prey to cyber crimes. People know they are not to share their ATM pin number with anybody calling from mobile number, but are not so clear about OTP number

To avoid cyber thefts, people should be made aware that no personal details, be it bank account or Aadhaar numbers or any type of passwords, are not to be shared with strangers, especially over the phone.

He also wanted people to go directly to their bank in case they are to share their personal details.