Mumbai: BEST Conductor Duped of Rs 1.75 Lakh in Fake D-Mart Promotional Offer

A shocking case of online fraud has come to light in the Byculla area, where a 54-year-old BEST bus conductor was allegedly cheated of ₹1.75 lakh in the name of a fake D-Mart promotional offer. Byculla Police have registered an FIR and launched a probe into the matter.

The victim, Santosh Tukaram Mejari, who works as a bus conductor with the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking, regularly used his HDFC Bank credit card for daily transactions. On July 29, around 12:30 pm, while playing the Spider Solitaire game on his mobile phone, a D-Mart advertisement popped up, claiming to offer 5 kg of rice and 5 kg of cooking oil for just ₹249.

Tempted by the lucrative offer, Mejari clicked the link in the ad, filled in his personal and credit card details to place the order. Shortly afterward, he received a call from a man who identified himself as a D-Mart representative. The caller then instructed him to install an app file named “D-Mart.apk” via WhatsApp, supposedly to track the order.

As Mejari attempted to install the file, a series of unauthorised transactions began on his credit card. In a span of minutes, six separate transactions drained a total of ₹1,75,739 from his account.

Realising the fraud, Mejari immediately rushed to the HDFC Bank branch in Lalbaug, where officials promptly blocked his credit and debit cards. He was advised to report the matter to the cybercrime helpline number 1930. He later approached the Byculla Police Station, where an official complaint was registered.

Police are investigating the scam and tracing the perpetrators. Authorities have once again urged citizens to avoid clicking on suspicious links and sharing sensitive financial information online.