New Delhi: A 77-year-old doctor in Kamla Market, central Delhi, fell victim to a scam where he lost nearly Rs 3 lakh, as per media reports. The scammer pretended to be from the electricity provider and claimed the doctor owed unpaid bills. The incident occurred on February 23, when the doctor received a threatening message from an unknown number claiming to be affiliated with BSES, warning of immediate disconnection of electricity if the dues weren't settled that day.

The doctor, upon calling the number, was asked to pay Rs 10 for an upgrade. Then, he was directed to a link where he provided his debit card details. After sharing the information, the doctor noticed unauthorised transactions draining his bank account of approximately Rs 3 lakh. However, he did not receive any message for OTP verification.

Case Registered as Police Attempt to Unravel Racket

The victim was quick to report the incident to the cyber cell and followed that a case was registered under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including cheating, impersonation, and criminal conspiracy.

The scammer went further by activating call forwarding, blocking incoming calls, and tampering with the doctor's WhatsApp account by sending obscene content. Also, an English daily in their report mentioned that  the doctor's e-wallet was compromised, with unauthorised access detected in both the e-wallet and mutual fund folio accounts. The scammer even tampered with the doctor's Aadhaar Card details.

The police received two more complaints against the same mobile number, which implied the involvement of an organised racket. The English daily further reported that to catch the culprits, the police are now analysing call detail records and internet protocol detail records of the mobile number used in the scam.