Mumbai: 63-year-old duped of Rs 2.38 lakh while trying to pay electricity bill online

Mumbai: A cyber fraudster allegedly duped a 63-year-old woman of Rs. 2.38 lakh in Mumbai. The fraudster tricked her by sending her a text message asking her to pay her electricity bill and in turn he got access to her bank details using a remote access application.

The incident occurred on May 16, and an FIR was lodged at the Park Site police station on May 17. In her complaint, the woman told the police that she is a lawyer by profession and lives alone in Powai. On May 16, she received a text message while she was travelling to Bandra for work. The message stated that she had to pay her pending electricity bill. Later, she got a call from an unknown person who posed as employee from the private electric supply company, reported The Indian Express.

The woman further told that the fraudster first asked her to make a payment of Rs. 11 in order to update her bill and prevent disconnection of electricity connection. The fraudster asked her to install ‘AnyDesk’ application and got access to her mobile activities.

While she was making the payment, the woman did not realise she was being duped. The fraudster was able to copy her bank details as he was able to see her mobile activities. Rs. 2.38 lakh was transferred from bank account in four different transactions soon after she made the payment.

The woman then approached the police with a complaint and called her bank and got her bank account blocked.