Slug: Rs 5 Lakh LostAhmedabad: A 46-year-old woman working at a private university has allegedly lost Rs 5 lakh after falling victim to two back-to-back cyber scams involving a fake gas bill alert and a bogus traffic challan.According to the complaint filed with cybercrime police on Saturday, the woman received a WhatsApp message on Sept 12 claiming that her gas connection would be disconnected that night unless her bill was paid. She was asked to contact an official of the gas company, who allegedly sent her a link and instructed her to pay Rs 10.While attempting the payment, she received another WhatsApp message, this time claiming that her vehicle had violated a traffic rule. The message directed her to a fake website resembling the mParivahan portal and asked her to pay a Rs 1,000 challan.The woman clicked the link and entered her name, mobile number, and vehicle details. She soon began receiving OTPs and app-registration messages, followed by alerts about transactions on her credit card. She contacted the bank, which blocked the card, and also alerted the cybercrime helpline.The following day, however, further unauthorised transactions were reported from her bank accounts. Multiple debits, including Rs 98,000, Rs 99,000, and Rs 19,000, were recorded.The woman later discovered that an mParivahan.apk file had been downloaded through the fraudulent traffic-challan link. Police are investigating the fake websites, mobile numbers, APK file, and bank accounts used to siphon off the money.
