Power bill fraud: Senior citizen loses Rs 10 lakh in Mumbai – Times of India

MUMBAI: Cyber fraudsters carried out 24 money transactions transferring Rs 9.8 lakh between July 8 and 11 from the bank account of a retired official of Dubai Airport. The cheats scared the 76-year-old Khar resident with threats that power supply to his house would be disconnected supply as his last month’s light bill payment had not been updated and wasn’t thefore reflecting in their office system.
Khar police registered the case on Monday, and said the fraudsters executed the fraud between Friday and Sunday leaving little option for the senior citizen to get in touch with the bank to block the fraudulent transactions that were carried out during the weekend bank holidays. The fraudsters, according to the police, immediately transferred the money to e-wallets so that the bank does not get suspicious of the transactions.
The e-fraud victim fell prey to the fraudster’s trick as he dreaded living without electricity for the whole night. He realised that money had been siphoned from his account when he visited the bank’s ATM and updated his passbook and found the fraudulent fund transfers on Monday.
“I have been staying alone after my wife passed away in 2019. I learned from the bank that the fraud was successfully executed without raising doubt after the money was credited to e-wallets,” the Khar resident told TOI. In the senior citizen’s case, the fraudsters sent a warning message on July 8 on his WhatsApp number. The fraudsters who inroduced themselves as Deepak Sharma and Ankit Sharma, first inquired with him which mobile he was using before asking him to download the remote access application. “A link was sent to his mobile and he was asked to make a payment of Rs10 online. While he followed the instructions, the fraudsters stole the banking details that he entered on the link. The details were stolen after the fraudster gained access to his mobile,” said a police officer at the Khar police station.
Meanwhile, in a similar case, a 44-year-old Bhandup resident lost Rs5 lakh on July 9.
In the last 35 days, 82 cases of electricity bill fraud have been registered with 40 police stations across the city. One-third of these victims are senior citizens. The fraudsters have siphoned Rs1.25 crore.