Ahmedabad: A 62-year-old businessman from Ellisbridge was duped of Rs 1.6 lakh by cyberfraudsters who posed as gas service officials, threatened to disconnect his gas connection over an allegedly unpaid bill, and later obtained his debit card details on the pretext of updating a payment record.According to a complaint filed with police, the incident occurred on Aug 22 when the businessman received a WhatsApp message claiming that his previous month’s gas bill had not been updated and that his connection would be disconnected. The message also asked him to contact a mobile number for assistance.After checking his records, the complainant found that the bill had already been paid. When he called the number mentioned in the message, there was no response. Shortly afterwards, he received a call from the same number from a person claiming to be a customer service representative of the gas provider.The caller told him that although the payment had been received, it needed to be updated in the system. He then sent the victim a link and asked him to enter his details. When the link failed to open, the fraudster initiated a video call and guided him through the process.As part of the purported verification procedure, the businessman was asked to transfer Rs 10, which he paid from his business account. The caller then sent an email carrying the gas company’s logo as apparent confirmation of the payment and subsequently sought the victim’s debit card details.While the video call was underway, the victim’s wife received a call from his cousin warning that it was a scam and advising him to disconnect immediately. The businessman then checked his bank account and discovered four unauthorised transactions of Rs 1,00,499, Rs 20,000, Rs 33,000 and Rs 10,000, amounting to a total loss of Rs 1,63,499.Ellisbridge police have registered a case and are investigating the bank transactions and mobile numbers used in the fraud.
