Thane man loses Rs 3.67 lakh in electricity bill fraud

A businessman from Maharashtra’s Thane district has fallen prey to the ‘outstanding bill’ fraud and lost Rs 3.67 lakh to cyber fraudsters, police said on Tuesday.

On June 22, an unidentified person called up the victim, a resident of Badlapur area, saying he had not paid his electricity bill and his power supply would be discontinued, an official from Badlapur police station said.

The caller asked the victim to download an app and make the bill payment, he said. The victim’s son downloaded the app and paid Rs 100 as a test. The caller then asked for the victim’s mobile number and his son shared it.

After the phone number was shared, an amount of Rs 3,67,760 was debited from the victim’s bank account in quick instalments, the official said.

The victim filed a police complaint on Monday, based on which a case was registered against the unidentified persons under relevant provisions, he said.

No arrest has been made so far, the police said, adding a probe was on into the case.