A 27-year-old private firm employee from BTM Layout has allegedly lost ₹7.17 lakh to cyber fraudsters after his mobile number was fraudulently ported to another telecom network and used to gain unauthorised access to his bank accounts.

According to a complaint filed with the South East CEN (Cyber, Economic, and Narcotics) Police Station on Sunday, Kamlesh Kumar, a resident of BTM Layout, had been using a mobile number for the past 10 years. On May 25, he noticed that his mobile connection had suddenly been deactivated. When he approached the Airtel service centre the following day, he was informed that his number had been ported to Jio without his knowledge or consent.

Further inquiry revealed that the ownership of the mobile number had allegedly been changed from Kamlesh Kumar to a person identified as “Shahbaz Ansari”. The complainant stated that he had no acquaintance or connection with the said individual. Following the incident, he lodged a lost report at the Mico Layout Police Station on May 27.

The complainant also alleged that between May 27 and May 29, the email address linked to his private bank Customer ID was changed without his authorisation to carry out unauthorised transactions from his accounts, including transfers from his overdraft, savings, and current accounts to unknown accounts.

Kumar stated that the fraudsters gained access to his banking services after illegally porting his mobile number and using it to bypass authentication mechanisms. A total of ₹7,17,660 was allegedly siphoned off through multiple unauthorised transactions.

Based on the complaint, the police have registered a case under Sections 66(C) and 66(D) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, pertaining to identity theft and cheating by personation using computer resources. The police also invoked Sections 318(4) and 319(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, relating to cheating and impersonation.

An investigation has been launched to identify the accused and trace the diverted funds.