Noida: Cybercriminals allegedly siphoned off Rs 16.8 lakh from the bank account of a 61-year-old man from Greater Noida after hacking his mobile phone. Police said he downloaded a file linked to an advertisement on Facebook that gave the scammers access to his phone.In a complaint made by the retired govt employee, he alleged that on Oct 16 he had come across an advertisement about life certificate submission on Facebook. The advertisement had the logo of a nationalised bank on it. He clicked on it, and later that evening he received a call from an unknown mobile number.The caller asked him to provide his date of birth and bank account details before asking him to download a file and wait for 24 hours. A few minutes later, a suspicious message appeared on his phone.Suspecting that he had downloaded malicious software, he immediately deleted the files and checked his bank accounts.The next day, he received another WhatsApp call from the same number. Concerned about the possibility of financial fraud, he contacted the cyber fraud helpline to block his pension account. He subsequently received multiple one-time passwords (OTPs) for transactions, but he was assured that the necessary action had been taken.Police said a substantial amount, meanwhile, had been debited from his credit card. Money was also withdrawn from another joint bank account. “Nearly Rs 17 lakh was siphoned off in multiple transactions from the man’s bank accounts,” a police officer said.He then lodged a complaint on National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal. Based on the complaint, a case of cheating under BNS section 318 and the Information Technology (IT) Act was registered at the cybercrime branch police station on Thursday.TOI had earlier reported that the number of cases registered at the cybercrime police station climbed from just 14 cases in 2020 to 537 by Oct 3, 2026 — nearly 38 times as many. A total of 117 people cheated this year are senior citizens, accounting for nearly 22% of the cases, or roughly one in every five victims. Cybercriminals are now exploiting that financial security, posing as law enforcement officers to threaten them with arrest or impersonating investment experts to lure them into fraudulent schemes.The annual figures show how rapidly the problem has escalated. Noida’s cybercrime police station registered 32 cases in 2021, 49 in 2022, 183 in 2023, 134 in 2024 and 135 in 2025. In contrast, 537 cases were already registered by Oct 3 this year — nearly four times the entire 2025 tally.Union home ministry data show 1,03,488 senior citizens have fallen prey to cyber fraud and lost nearly Rs 4,000 crore across India.Police have advised people to remain cautious while browsing social media, avoid clicking on suspicious advertisements and refrain from downloading files from unidentified sources. They also urged people not to share banking details or OTPs with unknown callers.
