Two Chandigarh residents fall prey to power bill scam, lose ₹13 lakh

Posing as electricity department staff, fraudsters have been sending out false alert messages to Chandigarh residents regarding unpaid power bills which will lead to connection disconnection if not paid soon

If, out of the blue, your mobile phone gets a text message regarding an unpaid electricity bill, which will soon result in power disconnection, you are better off ignoring the alert, as it’s not the power department contacting you but scamsters out to find their next target.

The Chandigarh administration has cautioned residents that the phone numbers mentioned in the text messages were not related to any officer of the electricity wing of the Chandigarh engineering department. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Unwary of the scam, two city residents fell prey to the fraudsters and ended up losing around ₹13 lakh of their hard-earned money.

Among them is Rakesh Khanna, assistant commissioner, Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti regional office, Chandigarh. Khanna told the police that he got the alarming message on August 9. When he called the number given in the message for resolution, the person who answered the call sent him a link, where he was first asked to pay ₹10. As soon as he made the payment, ₹46,853 were withdrawn from his bank account through multiple transactions.

Similarly, Amanpreet Singh of Sector 15 lost ₹12.76 lakh to fraudsters. He told the police that he was asked to download “Quick Support” app to pay the pending electricity bill. Once he did, ₹12.76 lakh were withdrawn from his bank account on August 13.

Air force official looking for power meter duped of ₹3.36 lakh

Another resident who ended up falling for a similar scam is air force officer Ravinder Kumar Dhir, who is presently putting up at the officers’ mess in 12 Wing Air force Station, Chandigarh.

Dhir told the police that he had purchased a flat at Signature Towers in Sector 66, Mohali. As he required an electricity meter, he called the PSPCL helpline after researching the number on the internet. The person who answered the call told him to make a payment of ₹25 through UPI and soon after, ₹3.36 lakh were withdrawn from his bank accounts through multiple transactions.

Separate cases of cheating and criminal conspiracy have been registered into the three complaints at the cyber crime police station.