Trying to help out a Facebook "friend" in need proved costly for a 38-year-old sales manager after he lost Rs 80, 000 by becoming the latest target of a new modus operandi floated by cyber-criminals to dupe social media users of their hard-earned money.
The complainant in this case is a 38-year-old man who works as a sales manager with a Vasai-based real estate company. According to the police the complainant has stated that he received a message from his known FB "friend" seeking Rs 15,000 as loan by claiming that he was in a financial crisis.
The "friend" sent an e-wallet number for transferring the amount. However, when the transaction did not materialize due to technical glitches, the “friend” persuaded the complainant to send photos of his credit card. The complainant obeyed and a few minutes later, he also shared the One Time Password (OTP). However, the encounter ended up with him losing Rs 80,000 via fraudulent withdrawals from his bank account linked to the card.
The complainant called up his friend who informed him that his FB account had got hacked and an imposter had been sending out similar messages seeking money from his other contacts too. A complaint in this context has been registered under the relevant sections of the IPC and Information Technology Act at the Manikpur police station against the yet-to-be unidentified accused.
It should be noted that social media accounts of several people including local politicians and doctors in the MBVV police commissionerate area have been hacked by fraudsters who after a casual chat via messenger go on to request some amount of money via e-wallets as a friendly loan by giving any reason of urgency and a promise of returning it soon. Further investigations were underway.
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