A man who posed as a Good Samaritan after a road accident allegedly stole an injured motorist’s iPhone and used it to siphon off more than Rs 3.5 lakh from his bank account, exposing a disturbing case of theft and cyber fraud in Bengaluru.
The victim, Sachin Prasad, 36, a resident of Yelahanka New Town, met with an accident near Allalasandra on June 19 after swerving his car to avoid hitting a pedestrian. He lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a road divider, suffering a fractured hand despite the airbags deploying.
iPhone stolen during rescue
As passersby gathered to help, one man noticed Prasad struggling to call an ambulance and offered to assist by taking his iPhone.
Claiming he was stepping away to make the emergency call, the man instead fled with the device.
“I kept telling people that someone had taken away my phone, but everyone was focused on helping me. I was taken to a nearby hospital,” Prasad recalled.
After being discharged on June 24, he obtained a replacement SIM card and soon began receiving SMS alerts about unauthorised withdrawals from his bank account.
Fraudster created new UPI account
According to police, the accused removed the SIM card from the stolen iPhone, inserted it into an Android phone and created a new UPI ID linked to Prasad’s Bank of Baroda account. The fraudster also activated UPI Lite before transferring Rs 3,51,600 to multiple bank accounts between June 20 and June 25.
Prasad immediately reported the fraud to the national cybercrime helpline (1930), blocked his account and approached the bank seeking an explanation over how a new UPI ID could be created without additional verification.
He said the accused also attempted to access his ICICI Bank account but failed due to stronger authentication measures.
A senior police officer said the Northeast Cyber Crime Police have registered a case and frozen nearly Rs 2 lakh in the suspected fraudster’s bank accounts. Further investigation is underway.