A 49-year-old man, who works as a deputy chief engineer with the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) became the latest victim of cyber fraud, ended up losing lakhs of money.
Details of scam
Santosh Bobde, a resident of Matunga, had taken up an insurance policy back in 2017. On December 4, when Bobde was out for a work-related activity in Dadar, he received a call from an unknown number. The caller addressed Bobde with his policy number and other policy related details. The caller also confirmed the dates Bobde has been paying his policy amount for the past five years. Naturally, Bobde believed that the caller was genuine and proceeded to listen to him.
After all the confirmation and so-called verification, the caller told Bobde that if he pays the policy amount for this year now, he would be given a 10% discount. When Bobde said he would look into it later, as he was at work, the caller confirmed Bobde's email ID and said he is sending details via email.
When Bobde checked the email, it said, "Thank you for using *** life insurance services. Just to let you know that your policy has been due. As per our conversation we are giving you an early premium submission discount which is INR 13,000. We request you to kindly submit your policy premium after discount INR 1,17,000 to the given account details below."
Probe initiated over the cyber fraud
Some time later, Bobde received the same call, who yet again tried to convince him to pay the policy amount. Trusting him, Bobde went ahead and made the payment. The caller assured Bobde that he will get another email in two days, confirming his payment. Days passed by but Bobde didn't get any mail.
When he redialled the same number, at first they asked him to wait, later started ignoring his calls. Bobde then checked the status of his policy by logging into his account on the insurance company's website, he saw no update of the amount. Realising he was cheated, on Friday morning, Bobde approached the Shivaji Park police station and registered a complaint against an unknown person for cheating.
Police have initiated a probe in the matter, they said.
FPJ Cyber Secure |
