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In yet another instance of cyber fraud, a 57-year-old man in Ajmer lost ₹3.66 lakh after searching online for a doctor’s contact number and clicking on a fraudulent WhatsApp link, the police said.
According to officials, the victim, Mukesh Surana, a resident of Arihant Colony on Pushkar Road, had searched on Google on April 18 for a doctor’s number at a private hospital in the Khailand Market area to seek treatment for his child.
After dialling the number found online, he received a callback from another mobile number.
Fraudsters used fake appointment link
The caller, posing as a representative, sent a WhatsApp link under the pretext of booking an appointment and asked Surana to fill in his details. Though he declined to make a nominal UPI payment of ₹10, he had already accessed the malicious link and entered personal information.
Police said this allowed the fraudsters to gain unauthorised access to his mobile device.
SMS diverted, transactions carried out
A few days later, on April 22, Surana received an alert indicating a withdrawal of ₹99,999. On checking, he discovered that his bank-related SMS messages had been diverted to three unknown numbers.
Subsequent verification with the bank revealed that ₹3,66,199 had been withdrawn in five separate transactions on April 21 and 22.
Complaint filed, account blocked
The victim immediately approached the bank to halt further transactions and lodged a complaint on the national cyber helpline 1930.
A case has been registered at the cyber police station under Section 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 66D of the Information Technology Act. Further investigation is underway.
Advisory: Verify before you click
Cyber police have reiterated that citizens should avoid clicking on unknown links, even if they appear to be from legitimate services, and must verify contact details from official sources before making any bookings or sharing personal information.
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