Edited by Deepali Verma
Actor Shantanu Maheshwari, popular for his work in Bollywood movies and TV shows, has lost ₹ 5 lakh to online fraud. The Gangubai Kathiawadi star shared an Instagram story claiming that a card had been generated in his name without his due knowledge. Soon, the actor realised that he had been defrauded of ₹ 5 lakh while trying to pay a bill at a restaurant.
“It was close to ₹ 5 lakh transaction that the fraudster accessed from my credit card. The entire process was extremely tiring and exhausting. In case of such fraud, you don’t know what to do. I immediately contacted customer service but they always put me on hold. In cyber cells as well, the process is exhaustive and you have to give a lot of information. They wanted my transaction ID and it was something which I didn’t have. So I kept trying the customer care people but they hung up on me twice. Sometimes it takes more than 45 minutes,” Mr Maheshwari said, in conversation with Zoom TV.
“If you visit the office, there’s a long, tiring process that involves waiting before you meet the person who can help you.”
Providing more insights, Mr Maheshwari said: “My address and phone number were removed from my card.To top that, another card was generated on my bank account without my knowledge. I didn’t receive any information when the new card was made or even when the transactions took place or when my phone number was changed.”
He expounded that he got to know of the irregularity when he was attempting to pay a bill at a restaurant. “I was at a restaurant where I was trying to pay the bill. I gave my card and they said that I had exceeded my limit. This is generally not the case with me so I suspected something. I immediately had a look and found something wrong with my account. It was then I realised that someone else was spending the money from my credit card and they had exceeded the limit.”
In his initial post on Instagram, Shantanu Maheshwari tagged Axis Bank and said, “Unbelievable! My Axis bank account was a victim of fraud – a card was generated without my knowledge, no OTP received, and my registered email and phone no. was changed without any verification! Would really appreciate immediate and swift action to restore security and resolve this unsettling situation.”
Shantanu Maheshwari’s work includes shows such as Khatron Ke Khiladi 8, Boogie Woogie, Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 9 and Nach Baliye 9.
