Airtel issues fraudster duplicate SIM without proper verification, soldier loses lakhs from SBI account

A soldier who was a long-term Airtel customer lost Rs 2,87,630 from his State Bank of India (SBI) savings bank account due to a mobile ‘SIM swap fraud’. The fraud happened when Airtel issued a duplicate mobile SIM card to an unknown person without properly verifying the documents given and that person withdrew money from the soldier’s bank account using that duplicate mobile SIM. The Indian Army soldier who was posted in Jammu and Kashmir when this fraud happened, at once filed a complaint with Airtel as soon as he got to know about the fraud. However, Airtel refused to refund the fraudulently withdrawn money, so the soldier filed a consumer complaint before the Almora District Forum, Uttarakhand.