Bengaluru: A 60-year-old resident of Bengaluru lost Rs. 2.8 crore to a smart cyber trap. A perpetrator had sent him a free smartphone, probably laced with malware, which enabled them to access and drain his bank account.It all started when the scammer called through a WhatsApp call from an unknown number claiming to be Citibank. The scammer informed the victim that he had a credit card issued in his name and he needed to change his phone number to activate the credit card. They said they would send him a new SIM card and a new phone for him to receive the new phone number. This made the victim believe it was a legitimate offer.A few days later, a Redmi mobile phone worth Rs 10,000 and a new SIM card were sent to the victim. The victim used the new SIM on the new mobile phone; then, there was a message of an unauthorized transaction. When he checked it, he found that Rs 2.8 crore had been withdrawn from his account.It is suspected that the phone sent by the scammers carried pre-installed malware from which they cloned his information and accessed his bank account. In an interesting way, this describes how such fraudsters adapt to new trends in online frauds.Therefore, it is to be noted how one should receive calls or texts from unknown mobile numbers. Notably, even the bank uses registered numbers mostly to contact people, not whatapp. Share your personal identity or click suspect links. On noticing any threat you can report data breach to your local police department and cyber police cell. An alert mind only keeps you in a safe realm of the world wide web.