Senior citizen attempting to recover money lost in online payment duped for Rs 11 lakhs

The police on Saturday informed that a senior citizen was allegedly duped for over Rs 11 lakh by cyber fraudsters. The woman was trying to recover the money she lost while ordering pizza and dry fruits online.

The fraud came to light once the woman, a resident of suburban Andheri, approached the BKC Cyber police station with a complaint. In July 2021, she had ordered pizza online and lost Rs 9,999 while paying for it on her phone. Later, on October 29, she lost Rs 1,496 while ordering dry fruits online. In order to recover the money she lost in these instances, she contacted a number she found during her search on Google. The one who received her call assured her of recovery and told her to download an application on her mobile phone which gave him access to her device, her bank account details and passwords, an official said. Following this, between November 14 and December 1, 2021, the fraudster transferred and withdrew Rs 11.78 lakh from the woman's account.

Realising that she has lost all her savings, the woman approached the police. An FIR under section 420 (cheating) and other relevant provisions of the IPC and Information Technology Act has been registered against the unidentified persons. A probe is underway, the official said.