Mumbai: Cyber fraudsters are now operating without fear of ever being caught. They seem to be growing more confident that the long arm of law is yet to catch up with them. The latest case of a retired cop getting cheated is another instance of digital outlaws' brazen audacity.
According to the police, retired intelligence officer KS Andhale, 58, lost ₹45,000 while trying to search for railway's helpline for getting his tickets cancelled. In his complaint, the NM Joshi Marg resident said that he and his former colleague had decided to go to Ajmer in December last year. However, the plan had to be dropped as Andhale's travel partner suddenly fell ill.
On December 31, the ex-cop surfed the IRCTC website to cancel the tickets. Unable to locate the helpline number, he decided to surf the web for any leads. Andhale found a mobile contact matching his search. When he called that number, the person on the line told him that he was speaking from IRCTC customer care. The scammer then asked for the ticket PNRs as well as the credit card details.
Fraudster sends malicious file on WhatsApp
Assuring to help the complainant with cancellation, the caller sent a malicious file on Andhale's WhatsApp while asking him to download it and fill in the required details. While this conversation was going on, the ex-cop got a call from his bank, asking if he wanted to proceed with a transaction of ₹50,000 done from his credit card. A confused Andhale requested the bank official not to process the deal. Upon checking his text messages, he was shocked to know three transactions of ₹45,000 were already made through his credit card.
Based on his complaint lodged on Tuesday, a case has been registered under the Indian Penal Code sections 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) and provisions 66C (identity theft), 66D (cheating by personation by using computer resource) of the Information Technology Act.
