Mumbai: Man seeking to check PF balance online, loses Rs 1.23 Lakh to cyber-fraud

Surfing on the internet for EPFO's helpline number to check his Provident Fund (PF) balance proved costly for a 47-year-old man working as an accounts officer in a private company. The victim came across a fraudulent helpline number on the internet and the 'helpline official' on the pretext of assisting the victim induced him to download a remote access app and siphoned Rs 1.23 lakh in 14 different transactions.

According to the NM Joshi Marg police, the complainant is a resident of Andheri and works in a private company in Lower Parel. On November 07, when the victim was at work, around 12:30 pm, he decided to check his PF balance. The victim then opened the EPFO website on his phone but the website was not loading. The victim then surfed on the internet about the PF's customer care helpline number.

The victim then called on the said helpline number and informed that there were some issues with the PF website and login. The helpline official, then on the pretext of helping the victim, asked him to download a remote access app on his phone. On the instructions of the official, the victim also shared a 9-digit code. The fraudster then asked the victim to login into his e-payment gateway system to make some initial payment to complete the process to check the PF balance, police said.

The unsuspecting victim followed the instructions and in 14 transactions ended up losing Rs 1.23 lakh. When the victim started receiving transaction alert messages from the bank, he confronted the 'executive' who claimed that the money would be refunded. However, when the fraudster kept asking for the victim's credit card details, the victim suspected something foul and narrated the entire incident to his son, who informed him that this may well be a fraud.

The victim then got his bank account and bank cards blocked and approached the police to lodge a complaint in the matter. The police have registered a case under sections 419 (cheating by personation) and 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Indian Penal Code and sections 66C (identity theft) and 66D (cheating by personation by using computer resource) of the Information Technology Act. 

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