Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Cyber conmen posing as electricity department officials duped a retired government employee of over Rs 1 lakh on pretext of updating the electricity bill.
According to reports, Dinesh Kale, a resident of Jatkhedi area and a retired employee of MPIDC, received a call from an unknown number. The caller claimed that his electricity bill was not updated and warned that his power supply would be disconnected. He was asked to pay a nominal fee of Rs 12 for smart meter registration.
Trusting the caller, Kale followed instructions and clicked on a link sent via WhatsApp. He was then guided to open his UPI App and enter partial mobile number details along with his UPI PIN. Shortly after, Rs 99264 was debited from his bank account instead of Rs 12.
When Kale raised concerns, the fraudster claimed it was a technical error and assured a refund within 48 hours if he made another payment of Rs 800.
Believing this the victim transferred the amount on April 10. The scammer then switched off the phone. In total, Rs 100064 was fraudulently withdrawn. Misrod police have registered a case and initiated an investigation.
