2 held in Mumbai for 'duping' magistrate's wife of Rs 1.5 lakh over e-bill

MUMBAI: Marine Drive police on Monday arrested two cyber fraudsters from Jharkhand for allegedly duping the wife of a city court's magistrate of nearly Rs 1.5 lakh last year.
The accused contacted the complainant saying the power connection of the family's Marine Drive home would be disconnected unless their bill payment details were updated online.
The accused have been identified as Binay Kumar Mahtu (42), a Class 10 passout, and Shatrugan Ravidas (36), a commerce graduate. The magistrate's wife received a call from a person who identified himself as an officer from Mahavitaran and said their electricity bill payment had not been updated. The woman, who lodged the complaint, said they had paid the bill. The caller then said he would help her update her bill details.
"The accused sent her a link and asked her to download it. It was Quick Support, a screen-sharing app. The complainant filled in her bank details on the link. Soon, she received messages that Rs 1.49 lakh was deducted from her account in four transactions. She then approached the police and lodged an FIR on July 22 last year," said a cop. A team led by SPI Nilesh Bagul and PI Santosh Avhad began the probe. The accused had taken control of the complainant's phone, said the police.
Police found the money went to two credit cards and then to different bank accounts. Details of the account holders were collected and a team comprising cyber officer Sachin Shelke and personnel Ramesh Repal and Mukesh Chavan was dispatched to Jharkhand. "We brought them to Mumbai. Mahtu is facing two previous similar cases in Noida and Kolkata," said Shelke. One accused worked on commission basis and provided his bank account while the other is part of a cyber gang.