In a shocking case of cyber fraud, the Park Site Police Station in Mumbai has reported a scam where a woman lost ₹3.5 lakh after her mobile was hacked by cybercriminals. According to the information provided by the police, the woman was lured into the scam while attempting to recharge her mobile for just ₹10. Following the victim's complaint, the Park Site Police Station has registered a case against an unknown person and initiated an investigation.
As per the senior officials of the Park Site Police Station, the 48-year-old victim received a call from an unknown number. The caller, identifying himself as Rahul Kumar, claimed to be from Airtel and informed the victim that her SIM card’s KYC (Know Your Customer) was about to expire. To continue using the SIM card, she was asked to recharge it with ₹10. The woman disconnected the call but then searched for Airtel on Google and found a website. Using the website, she recharged her mobile number with ₹10.
After completing the recharge, the victim received another call from the same person, Rahul Kumar, who told her that the recharge was successful but she would need to recharge again, or her mobile number would be deactivated. When she informed the caller that the recharge had already been done, she began receiving multiple OTP (One Time Password) messages on her phone. Realizing something was wrong, she attempted to switch off her mobile, but it wouldn’t turn off. It was then that she realized her phone had been hacked, and ₹3.5 lakh had been siphoned from her bank account by the cybercriminals.
Following the victim’s complaint, the Park Site Police Station has registered a case against the unknown accused under sections 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating), 66(C) (identity theft), and 66(D) (cheating by impersonation using computer resources) of the Indian Penal Code and the IT Act.