Mumbai: Man loses ₹1 lakh after fraudster asks urgent transfer of money from friend's email

A septuagenarian was cheated to the tune of ₹1 lakh after an unidentified accused hacked the email account of one of his acquaintances and asked the victim to wire money for a family member's urgent operation. A case has been lodged at DN Nagar police station under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act.

Police said that the complainant, a retired director of a renowned company, was contacted through his email account, sent from his neighbour and former IAS officer. This officer too had retired and was in California with his daughter. On March 5, the complainant received an email from the former IAS officer's email, informing about his daughter's delivery, which was followed by another email, which read that one of his nephew's wife had suffered a heart attack and needed immediate finance for the treatment.

While the complainant tried to confirm the development, he got no response and sent the money to the aforesaid bank account. After wiring the money, ₹1 lakh, the complainant sent the receipt to his neighbour on WhatsApp, only to realise that he had not sent any emails and he was mistaken.

Realising that he has been duped, the septuagenarian immediately approached type DN Nagar police and lodged a complaint, following which a case was registered.