Retired Bank Official Duped Of Rs 5.8 Lakh By Cyber Criminals Posing As Executive Of Electricity Department

HYDERABAD: By posing as customer service executives, cybercriminals defrauded a 79-year-old retired bank employee of Rs 5.8 lakh.

This week, Shiva Rama Krishna Sastri, a retired SBI manager from Saidabad, received an SMS on his phone informing him that his electricity bill had not been paid.

Shiva ignored the notification because the bill had already been paid.

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Unknown criminals posing as customer service executives of Telangana State Southern Power Distribution Company Ltd (TSSPDCL) called the victim a few minutes after the SMS, claiming that the paid bill amount had not been changed in the database. To remotely access the phone, the scammers instructed Shiva to install the TSSPDCL programme as well as the TeamViewer QuickSupport app.

“After installing the applications, the accused forced the victim to enter his debit card information into the TSSPDCL app to make a small payment. They took card’s details and in a matter of minutes, syphoned off Rs 5.8 lakh from the victim’s bank account through repeated transactions as they could see OTPs given to the cell phone,” the senior police officer said. The victim filed a police report on Monday, and a case was opened under the Information Technology (IT) Act.