A 36-year-old doctor has lodged a complaint with the Tilak Nagar police on Sunday after having lost Rs 48500 to cyber-fraudster wherein fraudulent text message informing that the victim's electricity bill was unpaid and that his electricity would be disconnected, was sent and the victim was induced to download a remote access app and the money was siphoned from his bank account. Despite all the leading power companies have issued advisories to their customers, informing them to stay alert from such SMS frauds, the fraudsters continue to pull off their con.
According to the police, the complainant is a resident of Ghatkopar. As per the police, the victim in her complaint had stated that on Sunday around 9:18 am, her father had received a message on his phone which was masked on the name of a power company. The message had stated that since their bill has not been paid, their electricity would be disconnected after 9:30 pm. The message also informed the victim to contact the mobile number of the 'electricity officer', provided in the message.
"The victim's father was instructed by the fraudster to download a remote access app on his phone to complete the process. Since the victim was unable to complete the process on her father's phone, she downloaded the app on her phone and tried to make the payment through a link provided by the fraudster. The victim then learnt from her bank that Rs 48500 transaction from her bank account. Having realised that she had been duped, the victim deleted the app from her phone," said a police officer.
The victim then approached the police after which a case has been registered on charges of cheating by personation, cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property, identity theft and cheating by personation by using computer resource.
"Beware of fraudulent messages regarding the disconnection of electricity supply! Please ignore any such messages as it is a SCAM, and DO NOT share your confidential bank information. Tata Power never communicates with you via unregistered numbers," Tata Power had tweeted on June 16
"SCAM Alert!! If you get an SMS about disconnection of electricity, asking you to contact an electricity officer, know that it's a SCAM. We do not send SMS from an unregistered number!," Adani Electricity tweeted on May 25.
Similar warning was issued by the BEST. On May 20, BEST Electricity had tweeted, "Beware: BEST always sends SMS from "BESTSM" and not from any mobile number. If you receive billing or disconnection SMS from a number other than "BESTSM" asking you to contact on mobile number, please do not respond to it. It may be fraudulent SMS prompting you to make online transaction in order to defraud you."
Maharashtra Cyber police had issued an advisory for citizens asking them to stay alert from such frauds. "Verify the SMS source, do not pay bills from untrustworthy sources and do not install any apps that allow you to share your screen with others," the advisory stated.
