Electricity bill scam: Got a message for electricity recharge? Clicking on it can empty bank account

New Delhi: The number of cybercrime incidents in India is increasing daily. India reported 4,047 cases of online banking fraud, 2,160 cases of ATM fraud, 1,194 cases of credit/debit card fraud, and 1,093 cases of OTP fraud, according to NCRB. Another con has recently deceived hundreds of people across the nation. In the most recent scam, con artists inform victims via SMS that their electricity bill is past due and that they must pay it by clicking on the provided link.

This electricity bill fraud has been going on for several months, and scammers have managed to empty many users' bank accounts. While smartphone users should be wary of such scams, a recent report indicates that cybercrime officials have arrested people behind the scam in a Jharkhand district. However, this does not rule out the possibility of similar incidents occurring in the future. You should never, ever click on links sent to you via text message or WhatsApp.

According to cybercrime officials, the electricity bill scam originated in Jamtara, Jharkhand. These scammers hacked people's phones and sent them a text message stating that their electricity bill was unpaid and that they needed to pay it right away.

According to reports, the gang first contacted SIM card vendors to obtain bulk SIM cards in order to send scanned messages to people. These con artists then opened a bank account to receive the fraudulent funds. They then sent messages to people requesting that they pay their outstanding electricity bills.

The majority of people receive the following fraud message:  "Dear Consumer, your electricity will be discontinued tonight because your previous month's bill was not updated. Please click on the following link to pay the bill."

If the victim clicks on the link in the SMS, they are directed to either a telecaller or a website where they are asked to pay their pending electricity bill. People who were unaware of the scam frequently entered their bank account information, and the money was directly debited from the account. In most cases, these telecallers pretended to be BSES officials and requested bank account information.

According to Delhi Police, over a thousand complaints about the electricity bill scam have been filed across the country.

According to recent reports, the Delhi Police's Cyber Crime Unit arrested 65 people for allegedly defrauding people with this electricity bill scam. According to reports, the majority of such scams were carried out from Jamtara in Jharkhand, West Bengal, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh. Notably, the Jamtara gang is well known for defrauding people in various ways.