Mumbai: Woman trying to get STB working loses Rs 1L to cyber fraud

Trying to get her home set-top-box (STB) started by contacting a random customer care number available on the internet proved costly for a 57-year-old businesswoman. The woman contacted a number she found on the internet and the 'customer care executive', on the pretext of helping, induced her to download a remote access application on her phone. He then siphoned Rs 1 lakh from her bank account.

According to the Andheri police, the complainant is a resident of Chakala in Andheri (E) and runs a private company. The STB in her house stopped working on August 12. The next day browsed the internet to find a helpline number to raise a complaint.

The complainant contacted the number, but there was no response. Minutes later she received a phone call from an unknown number and the man claimed to be calling from the customer care department of the STB company.

The complainant discussed the issues related to her STB with the 'executive' who told her that she would have to recharge her STB. He then sent a link to the complainant's phone and asked her to complete the recharge process using the link, police said.

After the woman clicked on the link, it directed her to a remote access app which she downloaded on her phone. She then shared her bank account details on the said app as instructed by the caller and was asked to make a payment of Rs 50.

After making the payment, however, she realised that two more transactions had taken place from her account, amounting to Rs 1 lakh in total.

The complainant then tried contacting the executive, but he did not respond to her calls. Realising she had been duped, the woman approached the police and got a complaint registered on Wednesday.