A cyber fraud case has surfaced from Mumbai, where a retired government officer was cheated of Rs 4.10 lakh after clicking on a fake link posing as the Prime Minister’s portal.
The incident took place in the Sakinaka area of Mumbai and came to light after the 71 year old victim approached the police. The complainant had recently travelled from Delhi to Mumbai to stay with his family.
On December 12, the senior citizen shared a suggestion on social media about improving medical facilities in Ayodhya. Following advice from relatives, he later submitted the same suggestion on the official PM portal.
On December 16, he received an SMS stating that verification was required for his submission. The message contained a link that looked like an official government website and asked him to pay Rs 1 as part of the process. Trusting the message, he clicked the link and completed the payment.
Soon after, multiple OTP messages started appearing on his phone. Although he did not share these OTPs with anyone, the next day his mobile phone stopped working for both incoming and outgoing calls. Despite this, OTP alerts continued to appear.
Between 11.29 am and 11.39 am on December 17, 3 unauthorised transactions were carried out from his bank account, resulting in a total loss of Rs 4.10 lakh.
The victim immediately contacted his bank branch in Sakinaka. Bank officials advised him to submit a dispute form and register a police complaint. He also reported the incident on the National Cyber Crime helpline before visiting the police station.
A case was officially registered on December 24, and the investigation is currently underway. Mumbai Police are working to trace the fake link, analyse OTP related activity, and follow the money trail.
Authorities have once again warned citizens that official government portals do not ask for verification through SMS links or small token payments. People are advised to remain alert and avoid clicking on suspicious links claiming to be from government platforms.
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