Scammers won’t stop, so be your own guard!
Mumbai: No, we are not encouraging you to skip paying your electricity bills, but be careful when you do so as Cyber fraud cases have seen significantly uptick in the past few weeks. Scamsters have now come up with a new tactic to dupe people and this time it involves your electricity bill.
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Recently a 65-year-old woman in Mumbai became a victim of cyber fraud amounting to Rs 6,91,859 after she responded to a fake message of an overdue electricity bill.
The victim, a resident of Mumbai’s Andheri area, received a message on her husband’s phone about an unpaid electricity bill. It further said that the electricity connection will be disconnected if the bill remains unpaid. A phone number was also provided in the message.
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Here’s how she fell prey to the scam
Thinking it to be a notification from the electricity department, the woman called the mentioned number. An unknown person picked up the call and identified himself as an employee of the Adani Electricity office. He asked the victim to download the app ‘Team viewer quick support’.
After a while victim receives three messages about the transaction of Rs 4,62,959, Rs 1,39,900 and Rs 89,000. A total of Rs 6,91,859 was debited from her account.
The SBI Fraud Management team contacted the victim and asked about the recent transaction on which she refused the transaction from her side.
After finding out that she had fallen for cyber fraud, the victim went to the Andheri Police Station along with her daughter and registered an FIR about the fraud.
Police have registered a case against an unknown person under sections 420,66(C) and 66(D) of IPC.She reached the Andheri Police Station along with her daughter and registered an FIR about the fraud.
Similar cases have been reported in Mumbai and other parts of the country before. Scammers send SMS messages that create emergency situations, such as the discontinuation of electricity bills or the closing of bank accounts. They then share phone numbers or links for further action. Once the victim falls for the SMS and clicks on the link or makes the call, the scammers manage to gain access to the victim’s phone number or obtain an OTP to steal money directly from their bank account.
Here are some basic steps to avoid being scammed:
- Verify the SMS source
- Do not pay bills from untrustworthy sources
- Do not install any apps that allow you to share your screen with others, through external links
- Beware of making payments to private accounts
- Do not call or click on the link provided in the message
- Do not contact on provided contact no or share any details
- Whenever telecom companies or electricity boards send an SMS, you will always see the sender ID. For example, for Jio, one can see this in the senders’ name — JioNet, JioHRC, JioPBL, JioFBR. Hence, if the sender ID does not contain the word “Jio”, one should exercise caution before responding
- Check the app or call the board/authority concerned to verify. Once you enter the consumer number in your UPI app or Gpay, as and when your new bill is generated, you’ll get the notification in the app itself. It’s better to pay from the app
- There’s a facility to disable transactions — whether online or through ATMs. There’s a toggle button. Enable only when you want to make a transaction. Or set up an online transaction limit
To stay safe from such scams.
