FPJ Cyber Secure: London Businessman Loses ₹2L Seeking Dishwasher Repair

Mumbai: A 77-year-old businessman from London, currently residing in Mumbai, lost Rs2 lakh while seeking help regarding a dishwasher that malfunctioned within three months. The complainant, Dhanesh Rupalia, currently resides with his wife in a rented accommodation in Andheri West. He bought a dishwasher on August 19 but it malfunctioned on November 10.

Link Was Shared, Victim Was Looted Through Multiple Transactions

Rupalia googled a Vijay Sales helpline number and connected with a person posing as a customer care officer. The imposter claimed an engineer would fix the dishwasher but required an online fee. A link was shared with Rupalia, who clicked it but closed it immediately as it sought personal information. However, within minutes, four debits amounting to Rs50,000 each were seen from his HDFC bank account.

While Rupalia has denied sharing any information and claimed that his phone information got clones, cyber expert Mayur Kulkarni said that transactions don’t happen just by clicking on links and that either some information was shared inadvertently or automatic OTPs were generated.