Mumbai: Cybercriminal Dupes Beed Woman Of ₹1.34 Lakh Relief Money Meant For Husband’s Suicide Aid Through SIM Card Cloning

Mumbai: The Beed cybercrime police have registered a case under Section 318 (cheating) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 66C (identity theft) of the Information Technology Act, targeting a cybercriminal who stole Rs 1.34 lakh from a vulnerable woman.

Widow Loses Vital Aid After Husband’s Suicide

The victim, a 40-year-old woman from Beed, was already facing hardship after her farmer husband took his life last year due to mounting debt. The stolen funds were a lifeline, comprising a Rs 1 lakh financial assistance from the District Collector for her husband's suicide and a monthly honorarium from the state’s Ladki Bahin Yojana scheme. The loss of this essential support has put her family in further distress.

The fraud was executed by an unknown scammer who deliberately cloned the victim’s SIM card. The woman discovered the theft on August 10 when her bank manager informed her that her entire account balance had been drained through seven separate fraudulent transactions.

Scammer Clones SIM to Steal Relief Funds

She subsequently realized her SIM card had been blocked by the scammer as part of the identity theft required to siphon off the critical government relief money. The woman immediately reported the crime to the cybercrime helpline. The police are now investigating the trail of the money transfer to the various beneficiary accounts.

To get details on exclusive and budget-friendly property deals in Mumbai & surrounding regions, do visit: https://budgetproperties.in/