Ahmedabad: When a 64-year-old shopkeeper’s mobile phone began undergoing an automatic system update, he did not realise that he was about to become a cyberfraud victim. He put his phone aside and, within minutes, lost Rs 82,400 through an unauthorised UPI transaction.The complainant told Sarkhej police that he was at home around 2pm last Wednesday when his mobile phone started an automatic system update. He left the phone at home and went out. A while later, he returned to see that his UPI account allegedly showed a balance of only Rs 83.5.Upon checking his bank statement, the complainant found that his money had been transferred to an account at a scheduled commercial bank that provides digital and neighbourhood banking services.He immediately contacted the cybercrime helpline 1930 and registered a complaint, following which he approached Sarkhej police. The case was registered on Tuesday.The complainant told police that he had neither made nor authorised the transaction.Police are checking the beneficiary’s account to determine who received the money. Police are also examining the complainant’s mobile phone and its activity before and during the period the phone was updated.Police suspect that the shopkeeper’s device or digital payment credential was obtained while the phone was being updated. A complaint of cheating under BNS and the Information Technology Act has been filed.
