Businessman in Mumbai falls prey to phishing scam, loses ₹5.8 lakh

The accused posed as a close friend of the Powai-based businessman and sent an email requesting for an urgent loan

A 53-year-old businessman from Powai has been cheated of Rs5.8 lakh by an unidentified person, who posed as his close friend and requested him to transfer money into his bank account as an urgent loan.

The businessman realised he had been conned only later, when he called his friend to confirm whether he had received the money.

This kind of cybercrime, where an email that looks legitimate is used to cheat people, is called phishing. The Powai police have registered a First Information Report (FIR) in the matter and are investigating the case.

The Powai police, who registered the complaint , said that on November 18, around 10 am, the businessman, a resident of Hiranandani Complex, Powai, got an email from whom he thought was his friend, who said he was stuck somewhere and was in urgent need of money.

Without giving it much thought, the businessman transferred the requested sum, Rs 5.8 lakh, into the bank account number that was shared in the email. Later, only after he called his friend to confirm whether he had got the money did he realise that he had been conned.

He then rushed to Powai police station where an FIR was lodged. The case has been registered under sections 419 (cheating by impersonation) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code, and 66C (identity theft) and 66D (cheating by impersonation using computer resource).

A police officer investigating the case told HT: “The fraudster did not give any specific reason for the loan. He just said that he was in urgent need of it.” When asked if the friend’s email id had been hacked into or a similar duplicate id had been created for the fraud, the officer said: “We are not aware of this. We are taking the help of cyber police officials for it.”