Elderly Doctor Scammed Of Nearly Rs 6 Lakh In Fake Electricity Bill Update Call

During the conversation, authorities alleged that the suspect purportedly employed a remote access application—allowing control over other devices—to virtually access Shiv Shankar Saha’s phone as he entered his credit card information. Following the call, the 67-year-old Safdarjung Enclave resident discovered nearly Rs 6 lakh charged to his credit card.

On June 16, Saha, a doctor, reported to the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP) that he had received a call requesting payment of a nominal Rs 10 to update his BSES electricity bill. Subsequently, during the call, the caller managed to gain access to Saha’s phone and conducted three transactions of Rs 1,98,221.40 each after disconnecting the call.

The Cyber Police Station Safdarjung registered an FIR under IPC sections 419 (cheating by impersonation) and 420 (fraudulent property inducement). Further investigation revealed that the defrauded amount of Rs 5,94,664 was distributed across three accounts via a payment gateway. One account, held at IndusInd Bank under the name of Kunal from Samta Vihar, Mukundpur, received Rs 1.95 lakh.

According to DCP (Southwest) Rohit Meena, police traced Kunal, who explained that a person named Aditya alias Eddy had facilitated the opening of the account, promising job assistance. Aditya, residing in Burari, was subsequently located through his mobile phone’s location data after a search of his suspected hideouts in Burari on June 28.

Upon arrest, Aditya was found in possession of a mobile phone and two SIM cards. Police uncovered an intricate scheme wherein bank accounts were opened in unsuspecting individuals’ names under false promises of employment, later used as fronts for financial fraud.

Investigation revealed that Aditya had been involved in similar activities previously, having facilitated the creation and sale of over ten bank accounts to fraudsters in Jamtara, West Bengal, and Jharkhand, organized through a Telegram group dedicated to trading fake bank accounts for illicit financial activities. According to police sources, Aditya had previously been arrested in Hyderabad for comparable offenses.

The accused faces multiple NCRP complaints, underscoring the scale and persistence of his illicit activities.