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Cyber fraudsters ‘warn’ of disconnecting domestic gas connection, dupe Pune senior citizen of Rs 8.91 lakh
The Pune police are probing the mobile phone numbers and bank accounts used by online fraudsters to cheat the senior citizen.
As per the complainant, the funds were traced to a PhonePe account in the name of one Pappu Sachin Yadav. After that, the judge called the cybercrime helpline and was asked to file a complaint with the Mumbai police. (Representational Image)
Online fraudsters duped a Pune-based senior citizen to the tune of Rs 8.91 lakh by threatening to disconnect his domestic gas connection.
The victim, a 62-year-old resident of Mahatma society in Kothrud, lodged the First Information Report (FIR) in this case at the Kothrud police station on Thursday.
As per the FIR, the scam took place between November 2025 and March this year.
The police said the fraudsters sent a message to the victim over his cell phone on November 13, 2025, claiming that the bill for his Maharashtra Natural Gas Limited (MNGL) connection is pending.
The fraudsters warned that his MNGL piped gas connection would be disconnected if the bill was not paid immediately. The victim then received a link from the fraudsters, who asked him to click on it to clear the MNGL bill.
However, when the victim clicked on this link and submitted certain information, the fraudsters took control of his cell phone and misused it for transferring money online from his bank account to other bank accounts, without his knowledge and consent, the police said.
Inspector Anil Mane, the investigation officer of this case, said the fraudsters transferred Rs 8.91 lakh from the victim’s account into other bank accounts through five online transactions. “The victim is a businessman and runs a private firm,” added Mane.
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The police said the victim filed a complaint, which was verified, and then an FIR was lodged against the unidentified fraudsters as per Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Sections 318 (4), 319 (2), and sections of the Information Technology (IT) Act.
The police are probing the mobile phone numbers and bank accounts used by online fraudsters to cheat the senior citizen. They said there have been multiple cases in the past, too, wherein cyber fraudsters have duped people by threatening to disconnect their domestic gas connections.
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