SHUBHANGI SHIFA
Ranchi, Oct 18: Cybercriminals seem to be creating different ways to cheat people of their savings these days. With calls for bank account seizures and card blockades not working, the frauds take help of plans involving electricity companies.
They send out bulk messages claiming that the said user has not paid their electricity bill in full; hence their electricity connection would be cut. They further send a number on which users can call to fill out the bill and make sure the connection stays.
One such message was sent to one of the reporters at lagatar24.com.
Here’s the conversation that happened between the fraud and another reporter.
Reporter: I’ve received a message regarding cutting off the electricity connection at my place. It says that if I don’t pay the bill, my connection would be cut by 9:30 pm tonight. Are you from JBVNL?
Caller: Yes ma’am, we’re from JBVNL. Have you not paid the electricity bill for the last month?
Reporter: No, there was a delay in the payment of the bill. I was thinking to pay for it the next month. Is there an issue? I believed that the electricity connection was cut after three-four months of non-payment.
Caller: This is what usually happens. However, those customers that have remaining bills have been sent notifications because we are ‘approval updating’ the bills of all customers. In this case, all the remaining balance needs to be paid for which we messaged and informed you for the same. Regarding your payment, do you pay by cash at the office or online?
Reporter: We pay only in cash at the electricity board office.
Caller: What was the amount of the bill that you paid the last time?
Reporter: It was around 508, I guess. (Not even the exact amount)
Caller: Yes ma’am, that’s correct as I can see here. I can see here that the last payment was not updated in regard to your customer ID. This is the reason behind us sending you the notification of filing the bill, or else the connection will be cut by the department. It will be better if you can update the payment.
Reporter: How do I do that?
Caller: Go to Play Store on your phone and look for an app ‘Quick Support’.
Reporter: Team Viewer Quick Support?
Caller: Yes ma’am, download the app. As soon as you download it, you’ll be sent a link to further update the payment.
Reporter: (In an effort to avoid downloading the app) This may take some time as my phone memory is full. Can you explain what I’ll have to do after downloading the app?
Caller: Download the app first. After you’ve downloaded the app, call me and I’ll tell you the rest of the process.
Listen to the audio here:
Ranchi Cyber DSP Yashodhara, while talking in this regard said, “The MO or Modus Operandi may be different. People may call or message regarding a lot of things including electricity bills, banks, and even Covid Vaccination in certain cases. In every situation, I suggest that people should not click on any such link sent through messages because no company does this.
“If they ask you to download an app as well, this should be a warning, as no organisation will make you download anything or ask you to pay online by sending you a link. Don’t ever give personal or financial information to an unfamiliar caller. When in doubt, hang up and call the respective service provider directly,” she further added.
