DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran said on Tuesday that he lost approximately Rs 1 lakh from his bank account to online fraudsters and questioned the safety of private data under ‘Digital India’.
Narrating the incident on X, Maran said, “On Sunday, ₹99,999 was stolen from my
@AxisBank personal savings account through a net banking transfer via @IDFCFIRSTBank-@BillDesk, bypassing all normal safety protocols.” Maran alleged that neither an OTP was generated nor received in the mobile number linked to his bank account to fulfil the transaction.
“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,” Maran said.
The DMK MP said, “What puzzles me is how they accessed personal information and breached security protocols with such ease. This wasn't a phishing attack nor were any sensitive details divulged. @AxisBank 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.”
Questioning whether any person’s personal data is safe under Digital India, Maran said while he has sought help from Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and finance ministry before for cybercrime victims, “Today, as a victim, I demand accountability and justice,” he said. Maran demanded finance minister to release a white paper on security measures taken to protect private data.
