Thane Cyber Fraud: Policeman Duped Of ₹6 Lakh Via Malicious WhatsApp PDF; Probe On How Scammer Bypassed Bank Debit Limit, Case Registered

Mumbai: The police are on the lookout for a cybercriminal who sent a malicious PDF file on WhatsApp to a policeman after which the scammer managed to get access to a policeman's bank account and managed to transfer over Rs 6 lakh in 16 transactions in another bank account. Interestingly, the scammer managed to transfer the amount despite the complainant having set a debit limit of Rs 1 lakh in a single day.

According to the police, the complainant S.B. Tadvi, a resident of Badlapur is posted with Shivaji Nagar police station in Ambernath. On May 31, Tadvi received random WhatsApp messages from an unknown number.

Later Tadvi received a PDF file on WhatsApp from the same number. The said file got downloaded automatically and was then deleted by the sender. After that, Tadvi started receiving text messages about money being debited from his bank account.

Within a few hours, a total of Rs 6.01 lakh got debited from Tadvi's bank account in 16 transactions. He then raised a complaint in this regard on the cyber crime helpline. What baffled Tadvi more was that such a huge amount got debited from his bank account, despite a debit limit of Rs 1 lakh for a day was set in his account. Tadvi in his police complaint has provided contact number of the scammer and fraudulent transaction details.

The police have registered a case under section 66D (cheating by personation by using computer resource) of the Information Technology Act. The police are probing how the scammer managed to get access to the complainant's bank account after sending a PDF file and how the scammer managed to breach the debit limit.