NEW DELHI: A woman was duped by scammers posing as officials from the Delhi Jal Board, who defrauded her of Rs 4 lakh by threatening to disconnect her water connection.
Police arrested two people.
The accused were identified as Deepak Kumar (22) and Pappu Ray (25).
A 52-year-old woman, a resident of Malviya Nagar, reported to police that she received a text message from a mobile number claiming to be from the Delhi Jal Board.
The message warned that her water connection would be disconnected if her account was not updated. Subsequently, she received an APK file on WhatsApp, purportedly to update her account by paying Rs 9.
Upon entering her debit card details, she received notifications of two unauthorized debit transactions totaling Rs 400,000.
A case was registered.
During the investigation, the complainant was interviewed, and all relevant details related to the case were collected. Investigators then explored various leads. The details of the bank transactions were analyzed thoroughly and logically verified.
Analysis of the mobile number from which the WhatsApp call originated revealed that the call came from Jharkhand. The money trail of the defrauded funds was meticulously analyzed, revealing that Rs 296,000 was credited into two different bank accounts. Further investigation revealed that these bank accounts were operating in the areas of Nithari, Kirari, Suleman Nagar, Punjabi Bagh, Rohini, Mangolpuri, Nangloi, and Mubarakpur Dabas.
“Through surveillance and technical analysis, the location of the accused using these accounts was pinpointed. A raid was conducted, and two people were apprehended. Some of the defrauded funds were seized,” police said.
Pappu impersonated a Delhi Jal Board officer, deceiving victims by sending threatening messages about water disconnection due to unpaid bills.
He shared a fake APK file named “Jal Jeevnam” via WhatsApp, instructing victims to pay a nominal fee to update their bills. During this process, the accused collected victims’ bank account and card details, facilitating fraudulent transactions. Co-accused Deepak procured credit cards to withdraw the illicit funds, which were then transferred to various bank accounts.
