A deputy general manager living in Ahmedabad’s Naranpura area has reported an alleged credit card fraud in which unidentified individuals changed the registered email address linked to two American Express cards and carried out transactions worth Rs 17.12 lakh without using an OTP, according to a report by Divya Bhaskar.
The cards belonged to the manager of a travel company and were identified as an American Express Platinum Charge card and Gold Charge card. The alleged transactions took place on 26 June. The report said Rs 11,19,908 was spent through the Platinum card and Rs 5,92,522 through the Gold card, taking the total disputed amount to Rs 17,12,430.
The cardholder reportedly became aware of the transactions after receiving messages on his mobile phone in the morning. He contacted the credit card company’s helpline and had both cards blocked, the report said. Some transactions were cancelled, resulting in the return of Rs 1,16,404. The reported net financial loss was therefore Rs 15,96,026.
The incident also involved a dispute over temporary credit extended by the card company while the transactions were being examined. According to the report, the company initially provided temporary credits of Rs 10,27,205 and Rs 5,68,821 against the two cards. After approximately one and a half months, the temporary credit was withdrawn and the cardholder was repeatedly asked to pay the outstanding bill.
The report said the alleged fraudsters obtained access to the cards after changing the registered email address. It did not specify how the email address was changed or how the individuals gained access to the account. It also did not identify any suspect or state whether the police had made an arrest.
The case highlights the operational importance of account-recovery and contact-detail changes in digital financial services. While OTP-based authentication is designed to protect transactions, the reported incident indicates that changes to a registered email address can become a critical point of vulnerability if they are not detected or separately verified. The supplied report does not establish whether the email change resulted from a breach of the card account, the email account or another channel.
After the alleged transactions and the subsequent dispute over the temporary credit, the cardholder filed a complaint with the cybercrime police, Divya Bhaskar reported. The next steps in the case will depend on the cybercrime investigation and the examination of the disputed transactions, account-access records and changes made to the cardholder’s registered details.
