Dahisar homemaker outsmarts cyber frauds

A Mumbai homemaker thwarted a cyber fraud attempt after sharing her photo and Aadhaar card, realizing it was a scam when asked for bank details.

Mumbai: A 35-year-old homemaker saved herself from cyber fraud by being alert on Saturday. Two people called her - one claimed to work for Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and the other claimed to be a crime branch officer. Initially, believing them, she complied with their instructions, even sending them her photo and an image of her Aadhaar card. But when the frauds asked for her bank account details, she suspected foul play and told them she will visit the office of Commissioner of Police (CP office) to resolve things, at which the frauds disconnected the call. She approached the police, and an FIR was registered against the two unknown accused.

Dahisar homemaker outsmarts cyber frauds

According to the Dahisar police, the complainant, Kavita Patkar, received a call at 10.30am. The call was a recorded message informing her that her mobile phone services will be disconnected soon, and to know why she had to press 1. After she did, a man identifying himself as Rohit Singh got on call, allegedly posing as TRAI official, and explained her number was used to defraud around 15 to 20 people, who had all lodged a complaint against the number holder. He asked if she had lost her Aadhaar card or given it to someone who might have used it to procure the phone number used in this crime. When Patkar denied, he told her she would be connected to a crime branch officer, and she can email AP@trai.give.email.in to keep her phone number operative.

Rohit connected her to another man, who allegedly introduced himself as Sanjay Singh, told her his ID number to sound legitimate. He first asked for her photo and an image of her Aadhaar card on WhatsApp. Then he said he would question her on video call. She complied with his instructions.

“I received a video call from a man who was sitting in police uniform and the Mumbai police logo was in the background, so I did not suspect anything,” said Patkar in her statement to the police. Sanjay informed her that her account with the ICICI bank was used to receive 10% of the ₹2.60 crore laundered by a Pooja Mhatre. He proceeded showed her photos of five ‘suspects’, asking her if she recognised any of them. After she denied knowing them, he asked her for her bank account details as proof that it was not being used by the accused, failing which she would be jailed for two years.

“That is when I realized that it was a scam,” said Patkar. “I told him that I would come to CP Office to answer his questions and get all my bank documents there. He disconnected the call, but I was scared as I had already sent him photos of me and my Aadhaar card before realising he was a fraud.” She then filed a complaint against the two men.