How Mumbai Woman Lost 6 Lakh After Dialling 'Government Helpline Number' Twice

Mumbai: A 31-year-old woman fell prey of a cyber scam, and lost Rs 6 lakh in a 4-day span. The incident took place when the woman ran a google search as she was trying to find helpline number of a government body. A number popped up, and the woman considered it a genuine contact and dialled. The incident came to light when she reached the Ghatkopar Police Station, telling them how she was scammed twice between September 16 and 20. The woman is a resident of Chirag Nagar locality in the eastern suburb of Ghatkopar West. It started when the woman tried to withdraw Rs 5,000 from an ATM using the cardless feature through her bank's mobile app. After the amount being deducted, she received a message that the money had been sent through the UPI (Unified Payments Interface) account --kerlacmdrf.covid@icici -- to the Chief Minister's Disaster Relief Fund'. Considering this an error, she searched toll-free helpline of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which owns UPI.

Man Claiming to NPCI Employees Picks Up Call In her complaint, the woman said she trusted the number, and dialled. A person, who identified himself as Suresh Sharma picked up the call. Sharma said he was an employee of NPCI's Bandra branch, telling her that she would receive a call from another number. Later, another man call introducing himself as Amit Yadav. He asked the woman to download an app and give access to her mobile screen for assistance. The woman said Yadav insisted on sharing her bank account details, passwords and info about her PAN and UPI accounts, and she did. As soon as the details were shared, the victim found out that an amount of Rs 93,062 was deducted has been deducted from her account. The money was transferred to the account of one Virendra Raikwar, said the police. Scammed Again Now Yadav told the woman that a new account had been created for her. He said the deducted amounts would be refunded within 24 hours. Despite waiting for 24 hours, the woman did not get a penny. She even contacted Suresh Sharma again, and told him that her money was not returned after 24 hours.After hearing her, Sharma connected her to one Rakesh Kumar Dosara, who also took all her details. Once again, money was deducted from her bank account, he said. This led her seek police help on September 28. The cycle repeated and the woman lost about Rs 6 lakh between September 16 and 20, the official said.This led her seek police help on September 28. The woman later realised that she had fallen prey to cyber fraudsters. She then filed a police complaint on Wednesday. A case of online fraud has been registered against unidentified persons, the official said, adding that a probe is underway. (With Inputs From PTI)