Bhopal Cyber Fraud Surge: Elderly Man Loses ₹8 Lakh In Fake Electricity Scam

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): More than half a dozen cyber fraud cases were registered across the city in the last 24 hours, with victims collectively losing several lakhs of rupees through different online scams.

In the biggest case, 68-year-old T Ganesh Kumar, a resident of Arera Colony, lost Rs 8 lakh after fraudsters posing as electricity department officials threatened to disconnect his power supply over an alleged pending bill and asked him to pay Rs 12 for a smart meter registration.

When the payment failed, the scammers contacted him, sent a fake registration form, and later guided him through a series of steps on his mobile phone. Soon after, Rs 8 lakh was withdrawn from his bank account. He later blocked his account and lodged a complaint.

In another incident, Kamla Nagar resident Tarun Singh was duped while applying for a company's distributorship. After receiving what appeared to be an official registration form by email, he transferred Rs 25,000 as a registration fee.

The fraudsters later demanded an additional Rs 97,000 for a five-year distributorship or Rs 1.37 lakh for ten years.

On verifying the bank account with his branch, Singh discovered it did not belong to the company. He later learned that several others had fallen victim to the same scam.

Police also registered cases involving losses of over Rs 5.50 lakh in separate incidents across Jahangirabad, Aishbagh, Habibganj, Shahpura and Misrod area.