New Delhi: The number of cybercrime incidents in India is increasing day by day. According to the NCRB, 4,047 cases of online banking frauds, 2,160 cases of ATM frauds, 1,194 cases of credit/debit card frauds and 1,093 cases of OTP frauds were registered in India. Another thief recently defrauded hundreds of people across the country. In the most recent scam, con artists inform the victims through SMS that their electricity bill is due and they have to pay it by clicking on the given link.
This electricity bill fraud has been going on for several months, and scammers have managed to clear bank accounts of many users. While smartphone users should be wary of such scams, a recent report indicates that cyber crime authorities have arrested the people behind the scam in Jharkhand district. However, from this the possibility of such incidents happening in future cannot be ruled out. You should never click on a link sent via text message or WhatsApp.
According to cybercrime officials, the electricity bill scam started in Jamtara, Jharkhand. These scammers hacked people’s phones and sent them a text message saying that their electricity bill was due and they would have to pay it immediately.
As per reports, the gang first approached SIM card vendors to get bulk SIM cards to send scanned messages to the people. These thug artists then opened a bank account to receive the money fraudulently. After this, he sent a message to the people requesting them to pay their outstanding electricity bills.
Most of the people receive the following fraud message: “Dear consumer, your electricity will be turned off tonight because your last month’s bill was not updated. Please click on the following link to pay the bill.”
If the victim clicks on the link in the SMS, they are directed to the telecaller or website, where they are asked to pay their pending electricity bill. Those who were unaware of the scam often entered their bank account information, and the money was directly debited from the account. In most of the cases, these telecallers pretended to be BSES officials and requested bank account details.
According to Delhi Police, more than a thousand complaints of electricity bill scam have been registered across the country.
According to recent reports, the Cyber Crime Unit of Delhi Police has arrested 65 people for allegedly duping people with this electricity bill scam. According to reports, most such scams were done from Jamtara in Jharkhand, West Bengal, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. It is worth noting that the Jamtara gang is known for duping people in various ways.