Siddarth Sethia
In a case of online impersonation and cyber fraud, unidentified fraudsters hacked a Bengaluru resident’s WhatsApp account and cheated several of his friends of over Rs.1.7 lakh after posing as the complainant.
According to the complaint filed,the incident occurred around 1:08 pm on Friday when the victim received a missed call from +91 7524063914.
Upon returning the call,the person claimed to be a courier representative from Blue Dart,informing the complainant about a pending parcel and advising them to contact a customer care number for further details.
Soon after,the caller sent a“customer care”number via SMS.When the complainant dialed the number,their phone and WhatsApp account were immediately hacked.
The accused then allegedly accessed the victim’s contact list and began sending messages to friends and relatives,seeking money under false pretences.
Believing the messages to be genuine, some contacts transferred money to various UPI accounts provided by the fraudsters.The transactions include:
Afra Aziz–₹55,000 to Paytm UPI ID 843436317@idfc (Transaction ID: 530598551090).
Noor Fathema–₹55,000 to PhonePe UPI ID anantraj2202@ybl (Transaction ID: 11349269563) and ₹35,000 to another UPI ID 113492629563.
Abdul Raheem – ₹25,000 to Paytm UPI ID 7857899547@ptaxi (Transaction ID: 530553480744).
Police said the case amounts to cyber fraud and identity theft,where the accused used the victim’s hacked WhatsApp account to impersonate him and extort money.
A formal complaint has been lodged with the cyber crime police,who are investigating the case and tracing the money trail to identify the fraudsters.
