Ahmedabad: A 64-year-old consultant from Ellisbridge lost Rs 99,000 after cyberfraudsters allegedly used fake bank credit messages and a fabricated medical emergency to convince him to transfer money.According to an FIR registered with Ellisbridge police, the alleged fraud happened on July 23 when the complainant received a call from a man claiming that his friend had mistakenly transferred Rs 45,500 to the consultant’s bank account. The caller allegedly asked him to check the credit message and return the amount to a different mobile number.The complainant told police, “I saw what appeared to be a bank credit message on my phone and believed the money had been deposited in my account. I agreed to return it.”According to the FIR, the caller initially provided one mobile number for the transfer, but after the transaction failed, shared another Google Pay-linked number. Believing the money was credited, the complainant transferred Rs 45,500.A few minutes later, the caller again claimed that another Rs 53,500 was mistakenly credited to the complainant’s account. When the complainant questioned how such a mistake could happen twice, the fraudster allegedly began making repeated WhatsApp calls from another number and sent photographs purportedly from a hospital. He claimed his son urgently needed surgery and requested that the money be returned immediately.The complainant told police, “I was convinced by the hospital photographs and transferred another Rs 53,500.”The FIR states that the complainant later checked his bank account on mobile phone and discovered that no money was credited to his account. He then realised that the SMSs were not genuine bank messages.He informed his family and immediately reported the fraud to the national cybercrime helpline.Ellisbridge police have registered a case of cheating and cyberfraud against the users of the mobile numbers and the Google Pay account mentioned in the FIR and have launched an investigation.
