A 39-year-old man, a resident of Pantnagar in Ghatkopar, has become the latest victim of fake electricity bill fraud. He was duped to the tune of Rs. 63,414.
According to the police, unlike the usual electricity bill scam where scammers send an SMS with a link to people stating their electricity bill is unpaid, then ask them to clear the bill by clicking the link – which they use to “hack” the mobile to extract data followed by money from bank accounts – in this matter, the police said, the victim instead got a call by an unknown man – who told the victim he hasn’t paid the bill.
In his statement to the police, the victim said, “I was told to open Google Chrome and go to the website of Adani Electricity. Then to the payment option and he (the scammer) told me to insert my customer number. However, despite multiple times, my payment was failing. He told me that I will have to pay Rs. 10 extra as a ‘fine’ for late payment. When I told him it was showing “failed payment”, he told me he will assist me, and download a mobile application called RustDesk from Play Store.”
RestDesk is a remote access and remote-control software, which is primarily used for the maintenance of computers and other connected devices. By giving access to a second person, he or she can check and see all the activities happening on the first person’s mobile. The victim in this case did exactly the same thing here, said the police.
The victim was then told to send the payment to another number via debit card, which he did. In the next couple of minutes, he received a couple of text messages from his bank saying Rs. 63,414 has been debited, which is when he realised he has been duped.
He immediately tried to contact his bank, but the payment had already passed from his account, he said in his statement.
The police have registered a case against unknown persons under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act, and have initiated a probe into the matter.
