A heartbreaking case of cyber fraud has come to light from the Ghodapdev area, where a poor fruit vendor was cheated of ₹1,04,501 under the pretext of digital payment assistance. The amount, painstakingly arranged by the victim through loans for the treatment of his kidney-stricken daughter, was siphoned off by a cyber fraudster posing as a PhonePe representative.
Based on a complaint, the Byculla police have registered a case against an accused identified as Talib and initiated a detailed investigation. Efforts are on to trace and arrest the accused.
According to the police, the victim, Hiralal Gupta (44), earns his livelihood by selling fruits on a handcart near the Hari Masjid premises in Ghodapdev. He lives with his wife and four children in a rented room in Byculla (East). His 22-year-old daughter, Sita, has been suffering from a severe kidney ailment for the past year and is undergoing regular dialysis. To meet the mounting medical expenses, Gupta had taken a loan of ₹1.56 lakh through Paytm, which was credited to his bank account. For his daily business, he had installed a PhonePe scanner and voice box.
On January 8, 2026, at around 2.30 pm, a man claiming to be a PhonePe representative approached Gupta’s stall. Introducing himself as Talib, he told Gupta that the scanner box was no longer required and took his mobile phone under the pretext of deactivating the application. The phone was returned shortly thereafter, and everything appeared normal at the time.
However, between January 8 and January 10, an amount of ₹1,04,501 was fraudulently transferred from Gupta’s bank account to different UPI IDs in multiple transactions. The fraud came to light on January 10 when Gupta’s son, Sumit Gupta (18), visited the bank to pay his school fees. On getting the passbook printed, several suspicious UPI debit entries were noticed. By then, the money meant for the daughter’s medical treatment had already been withdrawn, plunging the family into distress.
Due to his daughter’s critical condition, Gupta was unable to immediately visit the police station. He first lodged a complaint on the 1930 cybercrime helpline, following which an FIR was registered at the Byculla police station on January 18, 2026.
Police said the accused gained the victim’s trust by posing as a representative of a digital payment company and accessed the bank account through the victim’s mobile phone to siphon off the funds. A technical investigation is underway, and teams are tracking the digital trail to nab the accused.
The police have appealed to citizens not to share their mobile phones, UPI details or OTPs with unknown persons, even if they claim to be representatives of digital payment companies.