Pune: Cyber Thieves Threaten To Cut Electricity Supply, Withdraw Rs 4 Lakh From Citizen’s Account By Pretending To Be MSEDCL Officer

Pune, 27th June 2022: An incident of cybercrime took place in Dhanori where fraudsters withdrew Rs four lakh from a citizen’s account by pretending to be an official from the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) and that their electricity will be cut off.

An FIR has been registered at Vishrantwadi police station and a preliminary investigation has revealed that the cyber thief is from Bihar. The complainants are residents of Dhanori, Pune.

The cyber thieves had sent a message on the complainant’s mobile pretending to be an MSEDCL official. The message read that if the electricity bill is not paid, the power will be cut off. The complainant then contacted the cyber thieves by the mobile number from which the message arrived.

The cyber-thieves claimed that the complainant had to pay the electricity bill immediately. The complainant was later asked to download an app. He downloaded the app believing it was an official procedure. The cyber thieves then stole confidential information from the complainant’s bank account and withdrew cash of Rs four lakh from the bank account. The complaint was lodged immediately after it was realised that fraud had taken place.

MSEDCL has appealed to people to not respond to messages from the fraudsters. Cyber thieves use personal mobile numbers to send a message pretending to be an MSEDCL official. Cyber thieves then threaten to cut off the electricity by contacting customers directly on their mobile numbers.