Actor gets back ₹2.24 lakh transferred from her accounts by frauds

A relieved Sandhu said on Sunday, “It was my hard-earned money which I had almost lost but due to the efforts of Mumbai police I was able to get the entire sum back.”

Mumbai A week after television actress Aman Sandhu was duped and lost ₹2.24 lakh to online frauds, the Mumbai police units from Oshiwara, Goregaon and cyber-crime were able to block the transaction and get the amount credited back to the actor’s account.

A week after television actress Aman Sandhu was duped and lost ₹2.24 lakh to online frauds, the Mumbai police units from Oshiwara, Goregaon and cyber-crime were able to block the transaction and get the amount credited back to the actor’s account (HT File)

A relieved Sandhu said on Sunday, “It was my hard-earned money which I had almost lost but due to the efforts of Mumbai police I was able to get the entire sum back. I had approached the police just half an hour after I received the debit message on my phone from my bank.”

After receiving the complaint, API Sharda Bandgar and PN Ganesh Ayare from the cyber-crime cell and senior police inspector Manohar Dhanavade, police sub-inspector Digambar Kurkute from Oshiwara coordinated with each other and contacted the RBI and after completing due procedure were able to block Sandhu’s payment from being transferred to the account of the fraudsters. The officers then followed up with the bank and were able to reverse the payment to Sandhu’s accounts, said an officer.

According to Sandhu, who stays at Goregaon West with her mother, on July 6, she was searching the internet for the website of Criticare Hospital in Juhu to book an appointment with an orthopaedic for her mother’s treatment.

Sandhu said that at 11.15 am, she found the website and clicked on the link which had a photo of the hospital. “I wanted to know how long the orthopaedic ward was open so that I could take my mother. My neighbour had told me that it was open till 8 pm and I wanted to confirm that,” said Sandhu who then dialled the number which was displayed on the website.

“The man introduced himself as an employee of the hospital and told me that the ward was open from 4 pm to 8 pm. He sounded professional and was aware of the hospital wards and timings so I trusted him. He then told me that he was sending me a link through which I would have to pay ₹5 and get a prescription which I would have to show at the hospital during the appointment,” said Sandhu.

When she clicked on the link – ‘online complaint.apk,’ she received a message on her phone that ₹5000 was debited from her account. “I was shocked and asked the man who was still on the phone why ₹5000 was debited instead of ₹5, he said that he did not make any transaction. Later, I received messages from the other two banks as well that ₹1lakh from each of the accounts was debited,” Sandhu had said in her complaint.

“I then wasted no time and rushed to my bank to stop the payment when they said I should go to the police. Within half an hour, I was at the police station which was next door and asked them to stop the payment. The officers then called up the RBI and blocked the payment,” added Sandhu.