Curious about how Satish Shah lost money to a phishing attempt

This Mr Shah case should really push banks to do something. Like what if there was a mandatory waiting period when you add a new person to send money to online? Especially for senior citizen accounts. Just 24 hours before the first transfer happens. That could save so many people. They'd have time to realize oh wait did I actually do this or was it a scam?
 
KabirMehta said:
This Mr Shah case should really push banks to do something. Like what if there was a mandatory waiting period when you add a new person to send money to online? Especially for senior citizen accounts. Just 24 hours before the first transfer happens. That could save so many people. They'd have time to realize oh wait did I actually do this or was it a scam?
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I really like that cooling off period idea. It's so simple but could actually help people. It wouldn't stop the scam from happening but at least it might stop the money from leaving right away. Gives people time to think and realize wait a minute did I actually do this or was it a scam. Anyway I was curious so I looked around a bit and found out some banks do have similar things but they call it different names. Like Punjab National Bank has something called Safety Ring where you can set daily limits for certain things. But you have to go and turn it on yourself in the settings. It's not automatic. So most people probably don't even know it exists. Would be better if banks just made it the default especially for senior citizens. Just my thoughts.
 
They didn't name the bank and honestly it's better that way. This could happen with any bank. we should focus on the scam method not blaming one company.
 
Honestly these awareness campaigns are good and all but like who are they even for. putting stuff only on the internet is useless if the people who need it most aren't even online you know. my grandfather doesn't scroll twitter or instagram he reads the newspaper every morning with his tea. so put it there. put it on tv channels that old people actually watch. the ones with the daily soaps and news in their language. put up posters at the local grocery store and community center where they gather and chat. use simple words not big technical terms that confuse them even more. use their language hindi marathi gujarati whatever they speak at home. mr shah's story hits different because it feels real. that could be someone's dad. that could be someone's neighbour. make it feel personal and close to home then maybe they'll actually remember it when that random message pops up. right now it's all just noise to them.
 
yeah honestly personal stories just hit different right like when you hear about mr shah it's not just some random statistic it's an actual person with a name and an age and a city and you can picture it happening to someone you know 🙁 that sticks in your brain way more than those generic warnings we keep seeing everywhere. so i was thinking maybe we could like collect simple versions of cases like this not the super personal stuff just the basic facts how it started what they said what the person did where it went wrong. just break it down step by step in plain simple language so anyone can understand. my grandmother for example she won't read some long article but if i show her a short story like first they send an sms then they call then they ask for details then money is gone she'll actually get it. could help people spot the pattern earlier before it's too late. maybe we could even share them in local languages would be even better. just a thought from my side.
 
Scarily fast honestly. They have systems ready or people waiting. As soon as they get in they start transferring the maximum amounts to different accounts within minutes. That's why that first hour is so important. If you report within that time there's still a chance. After that it is really hard to get our money back!!
 
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Man reading this newspaper clipping just makes it so real. August 2026 he got that first SMS and then the call came a couple days later. So the scammers took their time. They didn't rush. Probably made him feel comfortable like it was a real bank process or something. Anyway yeah first hour is everything. As soon as you realise something's wrong just call your bank immediately don't even think twice.
 
Yeah that gap between the SMS and the call is really interesting. They probably do that on purpose so it doesn't feel like a scam. If they called right away people might get suspicious. But waiting a couple days makes it seem more official like the bank actually processes things slowly. Smart but evil.
 
PriyaDesai24 said:
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Man reading this newspaper clipping just makes it so real. August 2026 he got that first SMS and then the call came a couple days later. So the scammers took their time. They didn't rush. Probably made him feel comfortable like it was a real bank process or something. Anyway yeah first hour is everything. As soon as you realise something's wrong just call your bank immediately don't even think twice.
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Wait so he got the SMS in august and then the call came a couple days later? that means they were tracking who responded and then targeted them specifically later. that's actually scary 😳 they're out here making lists and everything like it's some kind of business. so basically when you reply to those random messages you're telling them hey i'm here and i'm interested. then they put your number in a separate list and call you when you've probably forgotten about it. makes it way easier to catch you off guard. these people really sit and plan everything step by step. it's not random at all.
 
Right. They note down numbers of people who reply and then hit them later when they're not expecting it. Makes it harder to connect the dots. Poor Mr Shah probably forgot about the SMS by the time they called.
 
PriyaDesai24 said:
View attachment 1092

Man reading this newspaper clipping just makes it so real. August 2026 he got that first SMS and then the call came a couple days later. So the scammers took their time. They didn't rush. Probably made him feel comfortable like it was a real bank process or something. Anyway yeah first hour is everything. As soon as you realise something's wrong just call your bank immediately don't even think twice.
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Yeah this happened recently. And he's from Diwalipura area in Vadodara. Must be so tough for him and his family right now. 25 lakh is no joke at any age but at 84 it's probably his entire life savings.
 
Yeah that's the heartbreaking part. At that age you're not earning anymore right. You're living off whatever you saved during your whole life. 25 lakh at 84 years old that's not just some extra money that's everything. That's his medical bills that's his daily needs that's maybe even money he was planning to leave for his grandkids. The thought of someone working their whole life building something little by little and then some scammer takes it in a matter of minutes it just makes my blood boil honestly. And the worst part is he probably trusted them because he grew up in a time when people were more honest. He probably thought why would someone lie about being from a bank. . It's just so wrong. I really hope the police can do something for him but even if they catch the scammers will he ever get that peace of mind back. Probably not. This is going to stay with him forever. Makes you realise how important it is to keep talking to our parents and grandparents about this stuff even if they get tired of hearing it.
 
You know what hit me when I read that newspaper. This whole thing started back in August. It's just now coming out. So Mr Shah has been sitting with this for months. Months of stress and sleepless nights and probably blaming himself over and over. Filing complaints going to the police station explaining the same thing to different people telling his family what happened. At 84 years old that kind of stress is not just emotional it can affect his health too. His blood pressure his heart all that worry takes a toll. And the scammers? They probably emptied those accounts and moved on with their lives like nothing happened the same day. Probably sitting somewhere enjoying the money they stole from an old man who trusted them. Just shows how slow the system moves compared to how fast these criminals work. By the time the police even start looking the money has been moved through ten different accounts or converted to crypto or withdrawn from some ATM in a different state. Makes me wonder how many other people are out there going through the same thing right now and we just never hear about it. Not every case makes the news. Only the big ones like this with 25 lakh caught someone's attention. But there must be so many smaller ones. People losing one lakh two lakh fifty thousand. They probably just feel ashamed and don't even tell anyone. That's the really sad part.
 
Usually these things take time. The complaint is filed now so investigation starts. But like we discussed earlier recovery is hard. Really hope for his sake they caught it early.
 

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