The police have booked an unidentified man for allegedly cheating a Kalamboli resident of ₹73,000 by posing as a customer care official from the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL).
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According to the 21-year-old complainant, a mandap decorator by profession, he had been using Paytm for paying electricity bills for the last one-and-a-half years. On August 9, his uncle asked him to pay his electricity bill online which he attempted to pay through Paytm. In the first attempt, the bill amount of ₹1,280 was deducted from his account but the procedure got terminated mid-way.
Hence he made another attempt which was successful. Since the money was debited twice, he searched online for a customer care number of the MSEDCL to enquire about the refund.
“The accused had posted his number as a MSEDCL customer care number online and the complainant dialled the number. When the complainant asked about the refund of the amount deducted, the accused asked him to download ‘Any desk’ app to claim the refund,” senior police inspector Satish Gaikwad, Kalamboli police station, said.
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The accused asked the complainant to check his Paytm account after downloading the app. When the complainant opened his Paytm account using the UPI pin, there was no refund. Then he made another call on the number but the accused disconnected, and meanwhile, the complainant received messages of deduction of ₹73,000 in nine different transactions. The accused fraudulently took over remote access of the victim’s cell phone.
After writing an application to the police station, an FIR was registered on October 17. “We are investigating with the help of technical support from the cyber cell. The app that was downloaded by the victim is available to everyone for having a remote access of anyone’s mobile phone, which the complainant was not aware of,” Mr. Gaikwad said.