Mumbai News: L&T Vice President Duped Of ₹98,000 In Credit Card Points Scam

A vice president of L&T recently lost Rs98,000 in an online fraud after a scammer approached her under the pretext of redeeming credit card points. The Powai police have registered a case against an unidentified person on May 8.

According to the FIR, the victim, Trupti P, 37, a resident of Thane West and a vice president at L&T in Powai, received a message on April 29. The message, claiming to be from HDFC Bank, informed her about 13,375 redeemable credit card points and included a link with instructions to click on it.

As she had received similar messages in the past, she trusted the SMS and clicked the link. A website opened, and around the same time, she received a one-time password (OTP) on her phone. She entered the OTP on the website for authentication, but the website closed automatically. She could not understand how or why the website had suddenly disappeared.

Shortly afterwards, she received a notification from HDFC Bank informing her that Rs98,000 had been debited from her account. Alarmed, she immediately visited the HDFC Bank branch at Saki Vihar to request a hold on the transaction. However, bank officials advised her to go to the police. She then went to the Powai police station and filed a complaint.

The police have registered a case under Sections 318(4) (cheating) and 319(2) (cheating by personation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act.