Fake electricity bill alert: Mumbai doctor loses Rs 5 lakh after she responds to message

According to police, the fraudsters duped the 63-year-old doctor with the Lilavati Hospital who received a ‘non-payment of bill’ message warning her that power would be disconnected if the overdue amount is not cleared.

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In a case of cyber fraud, a Mumbai-based doctor has lost close to Rs 5 lakh after she responded to a fake message of overdue electricity bill, the Maharashtra Police has said.

The fraudsters siphoned off Rs 4.98 lakh from the account of the 63-year-old Vidya Suratkal, who works at the Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai’s Bandra, officials said.

According to the complaint filed Friday , Suratkal received a ‘non-payment of bill’ message from an unknown number warning her that power would be disconnected if the overdue amount is not cleared. “Upon checking the caller’s number, Suratkal found that the number was that of the Tata Power helpdesk. When she responded to the message, a person posing as an official with Tata Power tricked her into downloading ‘Quick Pay app’ and subsequently withdrew large sums of money from the bank account linked to her phone number,” an officer said.

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Suratkal, who is a resident of Deonar, has her father’s bank account linked with her number. She realised about the scam only when she started receiving messages of money getting debited from her father’s bank account.

A case has been registered with the Bandra police station under sections 419, 420 of the Indian Penal Code and sections 66 C, D of IT Act. Police Inspector Rajesh Devare has opened an investigation.

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