In a stark reminder that cybercriminals are targeting individuals across all levels of society, a Judge of the Bombay High Court has allegedly been duped of ₹6.02 lakh. The fraud occurred while the judge was attempting to redeem credit card reward points, highlighting the increasingly sophisticated tactics used by digital predators in the city.
The Incident: A Trap Disguised as Customer Support
The incident unfolded on February 28, when the Judge sought to contact the customer care service of a private bank to redeem accumulated credit card points. According to police reports, the Judge initially attempted to reach the official customer care line but found the executives persistently busy due to high call volumes.
Seeking a quicker alternative, she searched for a contact number online. This led her to a fraudulent “alternate” number controlled by scammers. Upon calling the number, the Judge was instructed to download a mobile application to facilitate the redemption process. The fraudsters sent an 18MB file via WhatsApp to her device.
The “Android” Tactic
When the Judge was unable to open the file on her iPhone, she contacted the fraudulent customer care number again for assistance. In a calculated move to bypass the security restrictions of the iOS ecosystem, the scammers informed her that the application was incompatible with iPhones and required an Android device to function.
The Judge subsequently borrowed an Android phone from her house-help. After inserting her own SIM card into the secondary device, she successfully downloaded the malicious file. Following the prompts within the fraudulent application, she entered her credit card details under the impression that she was completing the redemption process.
Financial Loss and Legal Action
The deception was realized almost immediately when the Judge received email notifications detailing four separate transactions. In total, ₹6.02 lakh had been siphoned from her credit card.
The Judge took immediate steps to block the card and contacted the Cyber Police helpline to report the crime. The Mumbai Police have since registered a formal case against unidentified individuals. Investigators confirmed that they have already traced the phone numbers and bank accounts linked to the accused, and specialized teams are currently conducting a search to apprehend the suspects.
