Navi Mumbai man duped of Rs 10L in MGL bill update scam; same fraudster cheated Kharghar woman of Rs 5L

NAVI MUMBAI: A 42-year-old man from Ghansoli was defrauded of Rs 10.30 lakh by cyber fraudsters using the modus operandi of MGL bill update scam. The victim has registered an FIR of cheating under BNS and IT Act at Koparkhairane police station on Monday. The same fake MGL employee had defrauded a Kharghar woman of Rs 5L in Feb.

As per the FIR filed by the complainant Ashraf Gaeen, who owns a printing press, on March 26 around 6 pm, when he was at home, he had received a WhatsApp message from one Deepak Joshi, who claimed that he was an employee of MGL. The message mentioned that due to non-update of MGL bill payment, his residence PNG connection will be disconnected.

Thereafter, he received similar WhatsApp message from another number and was sent a link 'MGLBILLUPDATE.Apk' and made to download the Apk link where he was made to enter his mobile number linked to his bank account and his date of birth. Soon, the complainant received multiple bank alert messages of total Rs 10.30 lakh debited to his savings bank account including unauthorised transactions using his credit card details.

Hence, smelling a rat, that his mobile was hacked after downloading the Apk file and the unauthorised transactions were carried out by gaining remote access to his mobile data, the complainant immediately deleted the Apk file link and prevented further unauthorised transactions.

Similar FIR was registered at Kharghar police station in March by a victim woman who was defrauded of Rs 4.92 lakh by the same cyber fraudster Deepak Joshi posing as MGL employee. On Feb 27, she had recieved a WhatsApp message claiming to be from MGL and mentioning that her MGL bill payment was not updated and hence the PNG supply will be disconnected.

The message mentioned the name and mobile number of Deepak Joshi, whom she was told to contact to resolve the issue. When contacted, Joshi sent her an Apk file link that she downloaded. Under pretext of updating her MGL bill payment, she was made to enter her personal and bank account details.

She was unaware that through the Apk link, the scammer had hacked her mobile and remotely accessed her mobile data including her internet banking and OTPs she would receive. The scammer obtained online personal loan of Rs 5.77 lakhs through an App by using her personal and bank details and OTPs she had received for disbursing the loan amount.

After the personal loan amount got credited to her bank account, the scammer gradually transferred a total of Rs 4.92 lakhs to an account by remotely accessing her internet banking. As she received bank alerts of the transactions, she immediately contacted her bank informing about unauthorised transactions and got her bank account freezed thus preventing further transactions from her account by the scammer.

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