Mumbai: In yet another alarming case of digital deception, a 50-year-old furniture businessman from Chembur fell prey to cyber fraudsters who used a hacked WhatsApp account of his sister-in-law to extract Rs 90,000 from him.
According to the FIR, Karan Shah, a resident of Sandu Wadi in Chembur, received a WhatsApp message on July 5, from a number with a U.S. country code. The display picture (DP) on the number was that of his sister-in-law, Kalpana.
The sender claimed it was her new number and requested an urgent transfer of Rs90,000 to another Indian number via Google Pay. Unaware of the fraud, Shah transferred the full amount without suspicion.
Later that day, Shah’s wife, Hina, received a call from Kalpana, revealing that her WhatsApp account had been hacked and that multiple people in her contact list were being targeted for money under false pretenses.
Realizing he had been conned, Shah immediately contacted the cybercrime helpline (1930) and later lodged a formal complaint at the Chembur Police Station. A case has been registered under the relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) Act and the Information Technology (IT) Act.
The police are currently investigating two mobile numbers involved in the fraud and are currently tracking the Indian mobile number used to receive the money.
