A 34-year-old Mumbai-based banker saw Rs 4.5 lakh vanish from account after she tried to recharge her FasTag online and fell prey to a phishing fraud. The incident is from Dahisar area in Mumbai. Police have registered an FIR and are hunting for the miscreant.
The woman was informed by her brother that her FasTag, sticker for automatic toll deduction operated by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), was due for a recharge. The victim went to the internet to search how she could recharge her vehicle’s FasTag online and cam across a customer care number.
Unaware that she was falling prey to a scam, the woman called on the number and was offered assistance to recharge her card by the person on the other end.
The fraudster sent a link on her phone to click and move forward with the recharge. Upon clicking the link, the victim found that an app called ‘Customer Support’ was automatically downloaded on her phone, TOI report quoting the police.
The fake customer care executive asked her to open her bank’s mobile app and log in to mobile banking. Upon doing so, she got a message saying that the FasTag recharge was successful.
However, the victim later saw multiple transactions taking place in her bank account. Around Rs 6.99 lakh was debited. Four different payee details had also been added on her mobile banking.
Upon realising the fraud, the woman rushed to the North Region Cyber Police Station in the city where the police were able to stop transactions worth Rs 2.45 lakh with the help of the concerned bank. However, she was still scammed out of Rs 4.54 lakh.
It is advised to people to ensure they only use trusted apps and websites for such recharges instead of searching on the internet for how to recharge the toll sticker.
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