A 57-year-old woman in Powai, Mumbai, found herself a victim of cyber fraud, losing nearly Rs 5 lakh while her husband fought for his life in the intensive care unit (ICU). The Vikhroli police initiated an investigation after registering a case on Saturday.
The woman’s husband, undergoing treatment at Godrej Memorial Hospital in Vikhroli, faced a recent deterioration in his health, necessitating ICU admission. On December 30, the woman received a call on her husband’s phone from an individual claiming to be a bank representative, as per the FIR.
The caller informed her that her husband would incur a Rs 50,000 fee on his credit card from the next day onward. To waive this fee, the woman was instructed to promptly fill out an online request form shared through a link. Fearing additional charges, she complied with the caller’s instructions. Shortly after submitting the form, the woman received three transaction alerts, revealing that Rs 4.88 lakh had been debited from her husband’s credit card. Concerned, she contacted the bank’s customer care, only to be reassured that no such transactions had occurred. However, a subsequent inquiry, two days later, revealed that three credit card transactions had indeed taken place on December 30.
Realizing she had fallen victim to a scam, the woman reported the incident to the Vikhroli police station. A case of cheating and cheating by impersonation has been registered under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the IT Act. Authorities are currently gathering details about the beneficiaries of the disputed transactions.