A 78-year-old retired employee from Hyderabad lost about ₹4 lakh after being warned of imminent electricity disconnection by a scammer posing as an electricity board official.
The scam unfolded when the victim received a WhatsApp message from an unknown number, claiming his electricity bill was unpaid and warning that his power supply would be cut off within two hours. Though he insisted the bill had already been cleared, the scammer video-called him, claiming the payment is not reflected in their system.
In a bid to “verify” the payment, the fraudster convinced the victim to download a mobile application and enter personal details, including his name and electricity service number. Moments later, the victim received an SMS alert that his credit card had been charged, followed by an OTP on his phone.
Alarmed, he immediately disconnected the call, only to find that eight separate transactions of ₹49,999 each had been made using his credit card, totalling ₹3,99,992. He also suspected that his phone had been compromised during the call.
The victim reported the fraud to Axis Bank and filed an online complaint. The police initiated a probe, suspecting that the scammer used a malicious app to remotely access the victim’s phone and carry out the transactions.
Published – April 22, 2025 08:27 pm IST
