Cyber fraudster siphons off ₹3.7 lakh from woman's bank in her bid to sell furniture

The incident came to light after the woman lodged a complaint at suburban Malad police station on Tuesday, an official said.

A 26-year-old woman fell victim to an online fraud after a person siphoned off ₹3.77 lakh from her bank account under the pretext of making a payment to her for purchasing furniture worth ₹21,000 through an online portal, police said on Friday.

The woman's senior, a general manager of the company where the victim works, wanted to sell his furniture on an online marketplace. (HT_PRINT)

The incident came to light after the woman lodged a complaint at suburban Malad police station on Tuesday, an official said. The victim, who stays at a Slum Rehabilitation Authority's (SRA) building, is an executive assistant in a petroleum company, he said.

The woman's senior, a general manager of the company where the victim works, wanted to sell his furniture on an online marketplace. A cyber fraudster approached him on pretext of purchasing the furniture, he said.

As he did not have an online payment app, the fraudster asked the woman to help him in the process, the official said. "Recently, she got a call from her senior that he wanted to sell furniture worth ₹21,000 on an online platform. To help him, she registered on an online portal for selling the goods. Soon, a cyber fraudster approached her and showed interest in purchasing the furniture," he said.

After getting her contact number, the fraudster called her on WhatsApp and sent her a link to receive payment, the official said. While opening the link, the woman provided details of her bank account and UPI pin, which the cyber criminal used to quickly withdraw a small sum, he said.

When the woman objected to unauthorized withdrawal of money from her account, the fraudster told her it was a mistake and assured to return the amount, the official said. However, the swindler carried out more illegal transactions and in all withdrew ₹3.77 lakh from her bank account, he said.

After losing the money, the victim lodged a police complaint against the unidentified person. Police have registered a cheating case against the accused and launched a probe with the help of the Cyber Police Station, he said.