Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Cyber fraudsters posing as electricity department employees allegedly duped a 75-year-old man of Rs 90,521 in Bagsewania area after tricking him into installing a malicious APK file on his mobile phone. Police have registered a case and launched an investigation.
Bagsewania police station in-charge Amit Soni said the victim, Hemchandra Pandey, a resident of Surendra Garden, received calls and WhatsApp messages from two different numbers on June 30.
The caller claimed that Pandey's electricity consumer number needed to be updated and asked him to install an APK file.
After completing the process, the fraudster told the victim that a payment of Rs 12 was required to complete the update.
When Pandey said he would use UPI, the caller instructed him to enter the code 90521, assuring him that no money would be debited.
Trusting the caller, the elderly man followed the instructions. Shortly afterwards, he discovered that Rs 90,521 had been transferred from his bank account through UPI.
The victim later found that his WhatsApp account had also been hacked, with messages being sent automatically to people in his contact list.
Another duped of Rs 45,000
In another case, Omprakash Nigam of Shahpura was allegedly duped on the pretext of paying his electricity bill.
Nigam informed the police that he received a call from a person posing as an electricity department employee, who warned that his power connection would be disconnected for non-payment of the bill.
The fraudster sent him a link on WhatsApp for online bill payment and allegedly siphoned off more than Rs 45,000.
