Maharashtra: Man loses Rs 2.14 lakh after clicking on 'update' power bill link

A 48-year-old man from Nagpur in Maharashtra lost Rs 2.14 lakh after he clicked on the online link sent by fraudsters posing as state discom officials who asked him to "update" his electricity bill, police said on Tuesday.

The victim received text messages on his mobile phone informing him that his electricity connection would be disconnected if he did not update and pay the "pending" bills in April this year.

When he called on the contact number believing that the message came from the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL), the person from the other side asked him to install a remote access app on his mobile phone, a police official said.

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"After he downloaded the app, the fraudsters asked him to make the payment. Assuming that he was updating the bill, the man clicked on the link. Within seconds, an amount of Rs 2.14 lakh got transferred from his bank account to another account," the official said.

A case was registered under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for cheating and under provisions of the Information Technology Act.