Mumbai: Alert man manages to get back Rs 48,000 from fraudster in 48 hrs

Shah promptly reported the matter to the cops. Representation pic

A cyber fraudster successfully swindled a well-known cosmetologist out of Rs 48,000 by impersonating officials of the Indian Army. However, the swift response of the 39-year-old cosmetologist's husband, a software engineer, played a pivotal role. He promptly reported the incident to the relevant authorities, leading to the successful recovery of the defrauded amount within a mere 48 hours.

Jigisha Shah, who runs Evolve Skin Clinic in Malad, received a call on October 25 from an individual posing as an Indian Army officer. The impersonator expressed a need for medical and skin check-ups for 90 soldiers, with a schedule of 10 people per day, offering a consultation fee of R600 per person.

The cosmetologist said, "For me, the value of money paled in comparison to the privilege of serving the army."

On October 25, she received a call from an individual who informed her that a call from the Army Account Department for payment would follow. She was advised to have two phones ready, one for the call and the other to access her account. However, she had only one phone available. The army officer who called her shared his ID on WhatsApp and proceeded with the call.

He instructed her to check her Google Pay account and guided her to the credit card menu. Meanwhile, he asked her to review the transaction history to confirm the deposit. To her shock, she discovered an unauthorised withdrawal of R48,000 from her account, prompting her to immediately inform her husband about the situation.

Pratik Shah, the husband of Jigisha, told mid-day, "As a software engineer, I've been vigilant about various cyber frauds and have informed my wife accordingly. It's astounding how the money was transferred without screen sharing. I promptly reported the incident to the cyber police, the bank and the National Payment Centre of India. Within half an hour, I submitted a dispute form to the bank, and within 48 hours, we received confirmation that the entire amount had been refunded to my wife's account."

"The methods employed by these fraudsters to manipulate accounts without screen sharing left me baffled. It's possible that the photo ID sent on WhatsApp contained malware, allowing the culprits to gain access to my wife's mobile screen," he added.

After inspecting the transaction details, it was discovered that the transferred funds had been credited to an Axis Bank credit card. All the relevant information has been included in a written complaint submitted to the Malad police. It was also conveyed to them that the mobile number used for the call remains active between 9 am and 2 pm daily, with messages from the fraudsters continuing to be sent to Jigisha's WhatsApp number.

"I would like to request the government to consider the imposition of temporary restrictions on recently credited funds for cash withdrawal. This measure would provide fraud victims with the opportunity to report the issue, and banks would have sufficient time to block unauthorised transactions," Pratik said.

Oct 25
The day incident happened