BHUBANESWAR: A retired employee of Rourkela Steel Plant residing in the State capital has been duped of Rs 2.75 lakh by cyber criminals on the pretext of clearing a pending electricity bill. The victim lodged a complaint at the cyber police station here on Saturday.
According to the complaint, he received a text message claiming his electricity bill from last month was pending. In the message, a number was also provided and the complainant was warned that if the pending dues are not cleared, his electricity connection will be disconnected after a day.
When the victim contacted the number provided to him, the caller asked him to download an application. The caller also collected the complainant’s credit card details following which the money was deducted from his account.
In a similar fraud, a man lost Rs 92,000 to cyber criminals on the pretext of receiving home services to repair his AC through an app. The complainant was instructed to pay Rs 649 towards the service. However, he was not able to make the payment.
A caller then asked him to register in another app and provided a link for registration. When he clicked on the link and filled in the details, the money was deducted from his bank account.