Mumbai woman gets Rs 1.37 lakh ‘shock’ in electricity bill fraud

The incident came to light when the woman, who stays with her mother, a senior citizen, in suburban Andheri, approached the Versova police station with a complaint, said an official

Mumbai: A 37-year-old woman from Mumbai was duped of Rs 1.37 lakh by a cyber fraudster in the guise of helping her pay electricity bill online, police said on Monday.

The incident came to light when the woman, who stays with her mother, a senior citizen, in suburban Andheri (West), approached the Versova police station with a complaint, said an official.

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According to the complainant, her mother received a message on her mobile phone Friday evening saying “electricity to her home will be disconnected at 9.30 pm if the bill was not paid”.

After the message, the 62-year-old mother of the complainant also received a call from a fraudster who told her about snapping power supply to her home over non-payment of bill.

The cyber criminal then obtained the mobile phone number of the complainant and made her a video call, offering to help her pay the electricity bill online, said the official.

In guise of helping the complainant, the fraudster made unauthorised transactions totalling Rs 1.37 lakh from her bank account by obtaining vital details of her debit card, he said.

Based on the complaint, an FIR (first information report) has been registered against an unidentified person and further probe was underway.