Indian Navy commander falls prey to 'outstanding power bill' con, loses Rs 1.5 lakh to cyber fraudsters

Mumbai: An Indian Navy commander became the latest victim of the ”outstanding power bill” scam and lost about Rs 1.5 lakh from his credit card to cyber fraudsters, a Mumbai Police official said on Saturday. However, the quick thinking by the Naval officer saved him from losing another Rs 1.35 lakh as he blocked his card while the fraudster was talking to him over the phone. The amount of Rs 1.35 lakh was recovered, the official said.

The incident came to light on Friday when the commander approached the police.

”On Thursday, his wife received a message from an unidentified number stating that since their electricity bill was pending, the supply will be disconnected if the amount is not paid. She forwarded the message to her husband,” the official said.

When the officer called on the given phone number, the person who answered the call asked him to download ”QuickSupport” app on his mobile phone to pay the bill, he said.

After the app was downloaded, the fraudster got access to the commander’s mobile phone and asked the latter to send Rs 10, which was debited from his account.

”Keeping the officer engaged in conversation, the unidentified accused withdrew Rs 48,999 and again Rs 98,000 in back-to-back transactions,” he said. However, the officer sensed that something was amiss and initiated the process to block his card.

”The fraudster had made four more transactions of Rs 25,000, Rs 98,000, Rs 10,000 and Rs 2,500 by then. But as the card was blocked, the total amount of these four transactions was returned to his account,” the official said.

A case was registered under section 420 (Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Indian Penal Code and sections 66 (C) and 66 (D) of the Information Technology Act against unidentified fraudsters, he added.