Cyber fraudsters in Kalyan city, Maharashtra, duped a retired railway employee of lakhs of rupees by promising to update his pension information. The accused posed as an office employee at the Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) and gained the victim’s trust by promising to verify his pension payment order (PPO) number.
Police said on Saturday that during the conversation, the fraudsters gained access to the victim’s mobile phone and allegedly hacked his phone and withdrew approximately 700,000 rupees from his bank account. Upon learning of the incident, the victim filed a complaint with the police, following which the cyber police registered a case and began an investigation.
How did the thugs carry out the fraud?
The incident occurred on May 5th. That day, the complainant received a call from a person claiming to be an employee of the Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) office and asking him to verify his PPO number to process a pension payment. When the complainant’s daughter told the caller that the pension file was currently unavailable and that she would send it to the Mumbai office with her father, the suspect allegedly disconnected the call. The complainant then discovered that ₹700,000 had been fraudulently withdrawn from his bank account without his permission and without sharing any banking information.
What did the police officer say?
The official stated that it is suspected that cyber criminals hacked the complainant’s mobile phone during the conversation, gaining access to his bank details. He stated that a case has been registered under Section 318(4) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for fraud and other relevant sections of the Information Technology Act, 2000, and the matter is being investigated.