Maharashtra: 60-year-old duped of Rs 3.1 lakh in ‘Mahanagar Gas’ bill online fraud

Thane: A 60-year-old resident of Dhokali was allegedly duped of over Rs 3.1 lakh by fraudsters posing as officials of Mahanagar Gas Limited. An FIR was registered.According to police, the fraud took place on April 14 when the victim's family received a call from an unidentified person claiming their gas connection would be disconnected due to an unpaid bill. "The caller then sent an APK file on the victim's mobile phone, asking them to install it to "update" their account details and complete payment. Unaware of the trap, the victim installed the application, which allegedly allowed the fraudsters to gain remote access to the mobile device and sensitive banking information," said a senior police official. Within a short span, Rs 3.1 lakh was fraudulently withdrawn from the victim's bank account through multiple unauthorised transactions, police said. Police are currently tracing the digital trail of the transactions and analysing the mobile numbers used by the accused. Officials said the case is part of a wider pattern of cyber frauds in the Thane-Mumbai region, where scammers impersonate utility service providers to create panic and trick citizens into installing malicious applications.