2 lakh lost in credit card fraud. Money lessons from a Delhi cop’s case

An RPF constable in Delhi lost ₹2 lakh in a credit card fraud. Soon after he got a bank credit card, he received a call from a fake call centre where the caller claimed that he wanted to help him activate his card.

Under the pretext of activating his credit card, the caller asked him to share all the details on a website apparently designed to dupe card users like this victim.

Some days after he entered all the details, he received a credit card bill of ₹2 lakh. Following this, he reported the incident to the cybercrime police.

This may not be a common incident to have taken place, but it may happen to anyone. These are some of the money lessons one can learn from this untoward event.

5 money lessons to learn from credit card fraud

I. Caller's number: It is not very difficult to differentiate between a genuine and a fake caller. You can check the phone number of the caller on the internet to check its genuineness. Usually, big banks have phone numbers that appear credible and can easily be cross-verified on their website.

II. Check the URL: Before entering details of your credit card or bank on a website, make sure its URL looks genuine. For instance, a big bank will never ask its customers to share any information on a website but its own.

III. Never share CVV and OTP: Even if you receive a call from the bank, its officials will never ask you to share your CVV or OTP. So, if someone asks you to enter these details, it is more likely a fraud call.

IV. Letter from bank: For activating a bank card, banks typically send you a letter by post with the PIN in it and all the instructions. Otherwise, you are supposed to call customer care, but they never make a call to fetch details from you.

V. Netbanking: Typically, everything, including activating your credit card, can be done on the bank's netbanking. So it is a safer and credible way to do things.

Meanwhile, all callers from the bank will have their phone numbers starting with 1600. This is expected to curb fraud since all callers from other phone numbers will be presumed to be fraudsters. This will work as per the mandate of TRAI. The regulator has given 1 January 2026 as the deadline to all the commercial banks.

Disclaimer: MintMoney has a tie-up with fintechs for providing credit; you will need to share your information if you apply. These tie-ups do not influence our editorial content. This article only intends to educate and spread awareness about credit needs like loans, credit cards and credit score. MintMoney does not promote or encourage taking credit, as it comes with a set of risks such as high interest rates, hidden charges, etc. We advise investors to discuss with certified experts before taking any credit.