# E-sim fraud: Crooks drain Rs 6.2 lakh from Bengaluru man 2026-08-17T03:16:21+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet A 51-year-old Bengaluru man lost Rs 6.2 lakh after fraudsters posing as a telecom representative tricked him into upgrading his SIM to an e-sim through remote activation. The victim, Sagar, shared an OTP and followed instructions sent via WhatsApp on July 31. His mobile network stopped working for nearly a day, when restored, unauthorised transactions from multiple bank accounts and credit cards were discovered. In a similar case, 40-year-old Shoaib from Chikkabanavara lost Rs 2.8 lakh after a WhatsApp caller said his SIM would be deactivated and a new e-sim issued. The fraudsters persuaded him to share a Google sign-in code and other credentials, after which his network stopped working. The fraud came to light on August 8 when Shoaib checked his bank account. Police said no telecom company makes WhatsApp calls to promote e-sim conversion. Deputy commissioner of police (crime 2) Raja Imam Kasim P. said fraudsters initiate e-sim activation on their own device, deactivating the physical SIM, and then reset passwords or log in to banking apps. He urged the public to never share OTPs, sign-in codes, or click unverified links, and to report suspicious activity to the cyber helpline 1930. ## Coverage - timesofindia.indiatimes.com This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Bengaluru, cyber fraud, e-sim, Raja Imam Kasim P., WhatsApp Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/e-sim-fraud-crooks-drain-rs-6-2-lakh-from-bengaluru-man/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/e-sim-fraud-crooks-drain-rs-6-2-lakh-from-bengaluru-man/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/