Mumbai: 37-year-old woman loses Rs 1.37 lakh in electricity bill fraud

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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 told news agnecy PTI 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 after losing Rs 1.37 lakh in electricity bill fraud, an official told PTI.

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", reported PTI.

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, the official told PTI.

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, the official told PTI.

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

In another case, a 36-year-old man from Maharashtra's Thane district has been cheated of more than Rs 77 lakh by a person after being assured of good returns by getting into bitcoin trading, police told PTI on Monday.

The Kalwa police on Sunday registered a case against the unidentified accused under Indian Penal Code section 420 (cheating), an official from Kalwa police station told PTI.

The accused lured the victim between April 2 and April 8 this year, asking him to indulge in bitcoin trading for good returns, the official said quoting the victim's complaint. The victim invested a total sum of Rs 77,91,090 from time-to-time, but did not got any return and also lost the invested amount, the official told PTI.

The man then filed a police complaint against the unidentified fraudster, the official told PTI.

(With inputs from PTI)