Woman from the city became a victim of a cyber scam after she received a WhatsApp message from her mother’s number asking for a one-time password (OTP), only to later realize that both their accounts had been compromised. The hacker, pretending to be the victim, messaged her contacts asking for Rs 30,000 for supposed medical costs. Although she did not suffer any financial loss, her experience underscored the inadequacy of enforcement agencies in addressing cyber crimes.
Sara Gharami (name changed), a 46-year-old resident of Mumbai’s western suburbs, considers herself a knowledgeable, accomplished, and self-sufficient person—one who never thought she would become a target of cybercrime. Nonetheless, her disappointment is directed more at law enforcement than at the criminals, she expressed.
Recounting the incident, Sara told media that last week, she received a WhatsApp message from her mother’s number. “The message said I must have received an OTP, and my mother asked me to share it. At that moment, I was preoccupied with several things, and why would I doubt my own mother—even though I see countless social media posts from Mumbai Police warning against sharing OTPs? But this was my mother, and like a fool, I shared it. Within minutes, my WhatsApp was hacked,” she said.
After hacking into her WhatsApp, the fraudsters messaged all 194 of her contacts, posing as her. “The message claimed I was in urgent need of money and requested Rs 30,000. Many of my clients, who are based outside India, wouldn’t have been able to send money, but they started reaching out to me—along with my friends in Mumbai—asking if something was wrong with my health. That’s when I realised I had been targeted in a cyber fraud,” Sara said. As soon as Sara realised what had happened, she attempted to reach Mumbai Police. Her first instinct was to dial 100—the city’s emergency helpline.
“I was on hold for over two hours, waiting for someone to answer. When an officer finally picked up, all he said was that they ‘don’t handle cyber-related matters’ and advised me to contact the ‘cyber police,’ providing a random number,” she said. However, when she called the cybercrime helpline, it took another one and a half hours for someone to respond. “The official on the helpline advised me to call back the next morning to BKC cyber police,” she said.
With no alternatives available, Sara decided to take action herself. Following some online investigation and conversations with her friends, she discovered the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal, where she was able to submit a complaint. Nevertheless, she did not receive any confirmation about its registration.
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