Mumbai woman tries to win Rs10,000 ‘reward’, gets duped of ₹41,532 instead

The Mumbai woman received five messages from her bank, informing her that Rs22,016 had been withdrawn from her account

Trusting a cybercriminal proved costly for a Versova resident, who was promised a reward of Rs10,000, but ended up being cheated of Rs41,532 instead.

The fraudster promised to deposit Rs5,000 each in the woman and her mother’s accounts. (HT File)

Police said the 25-year-old woman’s mother approached them in the first week of August. She said she and her daughter had separate credit cards, which they often used while shopping.

On August 1, the fraudster called the woman around 5.30 pm. He said that she and her mother would both receive a reward of Rs5,000 each, which was to be deposited in their accounts.

He said he needed their credit card details within half-an-hour, failing which, they would be ineligible for the prize. The woman gave him their credit card numbers and the one time passwords the two received on their mobile phones.

The woman received five messages from her bank, informing her that Rs22,016 had been withdrawn from her account. Her mother also received five messages, saying Rs19,516 had been withdrawn. They approached the police on realising they had been cheated.