Elderly Guwahati couple receives text to pay electricity bill, gets duped of over Rs 7 lakh
First Published: 8th April, 2023 19:06 IST
The husband’s account was debited Rs 4,13,900 and the wife’s account was debited with Rs. 3,47,100, totally to Rs 7.61 lakh
In a very sad incident, an elderly couple from Guwahati fell prey to fraudsters who siphoned off over Rs. 7 lakhs from two different bank accounts belonging to the victims. The couple hails from the Geetanagar area of Guwahati.
The husband, identified as Dinesh Chandra Dutta, received a message from a special unidentified number that warned him that their electricity line would be cut off within the next few minutes if they didn’t recharge their electricity bill. The message instructed them to recharge a phone number with Rs. 100 or face disconnection.
The couple panicked and immediately recharged the amount by sending Rs 100 to the said phone number. Soon after, they discovered that their savings account was debited with Rs 7,61,000. Dinesh Dutta lost Rs. 4,13,900 from his account while his wife lost Rs. 3,47,100 from her bank account.
The wife stated that she heard her husband talking to someone over the phone regarding the electricity bill recharge. The caller gave a warning that if they did not recharge, the electricity line would be cut off within the next few minutes. The couple had already paid the bill, but the caller claimed that they had not received it and instructed them to recharge again. After calling a number provided by the fraudsters, they were asked to make an Rs. 100 recharge. Dinesh made the payment through the APDCL app, but the transaction failed due to a malfunction. The fraudsters then directed them to recharge with a different phone and took the wife’s phone to make the payment. They were then instructed to click on a link, and the victims lost their savings.
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