Paying bill online costs man Rs 50,000

NEW DELHI: Two days after TOI reported that the crime branch had registered an FIR against a man who allegedly created a fake Delhi Jal Board website; the cybercell is being approached by victims of fraud that took place while paying bills for power and other utilities. 

Anil Kumar, a technical officer at Laser, Science and Technology Centre, lost Rs 50,000 using a website to pay his BSES bill, police said. Kumar received a text message saying a successful transaction but the website message said it was a 'failed transaction'. Within minutes , his account was emptied of Rs 50,000 in five attempts , once he answered a call'customer care'. 

A case of fraud under Section 420 of IPC and Section 66 of Information Technology Act has been registered . IP addresses of suspected computers and the host addresses are being procured and the location of the 'customer care' is being traced. 

A few days ago, Kumar had tried paying his electricity bill through a third-party website and carried out a transaction of Rs 2,340. He received a transaction alerthis bank which read "sorry unsuccessful payment, please contact support desk". Next morning, Kumar shot off an online complaint to the support desk to seek refund. Within a few hours of filing the online complaint, Kumar received a calla number, 886164, asking for "details of my SBI account, the debit card number and PIN". 

"The caller also asked Kumar to read out the bank's helpline number mentioned on the back of the card. He then asked him to give his mobile and landline numbers," a senior police officer said. Within 30 minutes of the call, Kumar received five text messages on his phone informing him about online transactions carried out between 1.02pm and 1.06pm of Rs 10,000 each. 

A worried Kumar approached local policewhere he was directed to the economic offences wing at Mandir Marg. A case was registered and investigations started.