A woman residing at Hill road, Bandra has been duped with Rs 8.46 lakh after she clicked on a fraudulent Facebook advertisement about a 'buy one get one free' offer for
Rs 200 for Maharaja Bhog Thalis, the Bandra police said on Thursday. While trying to pay Rs 200 online for two thalis, the 54-year-old by mistake allowed remote access to her phone, using which the fraudster transferred the money from her bank account. The actual price of the thali is around 1500 rupees, said the police.
According to the police, the cybercrime victim who lives with her brother said that around 5 pm on Wednesday she read an advertisement on Facebook regarding the Maharaja Bhog Thalis being sold at Rs 200. The victim clicked on the link after which the fraudster asked her to fill in her bank details and mobile number. She received a phone call from the fraudster who then sent her another link that verified her account details.
The victim was then made to download and install a remote-access app, which was used to read the one-time passwords (OTP) sent to her phone, following which the fraudster transferred Rs 8.46 lakh from her account in 27 transactions.
The woman received multiple transaction messages after which she rushed to her bank where she realized she became the victim of cyber fraud. She then approached the Bandra police who registered an FIR.
"The victim did not realize that she was handing over access to her bank account while conversing with the fraudster. We called the bank and have frozen her bank account for now and a case has been registered. Further tracking of the accused is underway," said senior police inspector, Rajesh Devare, Bandra police station.
