<p>In a new form of cybercrime, at least 10 Bescom consumers have received fraudulent messages saying that the power connections to their houses will be disconnected owing to payment failure.</p>.<p>Those who responded to these messages have lost money and have now raised complaints with the cyber crime police.</p>.<p>Wing Commander K Cherian, one of the victims who lost Rs 10,000 to the fraud explained to DH how the trap works. “We received a message two weeks back saying that we have unpaid power bills. Though we received two such messages in a span of two weeks, we ignored them since we had already paid up the bills.”</p>.<p>“However, we got a third message saying that the power will be disconnected by 9 pm if we do not pay the bill. This is when we decided to contact the number mentioned in the message,” he explained.</p>.<p>Once the consumers get in touch with the fraudsters, they pose like the Bescom officials and ask them to make a small payment of either Rs 10 or Rs 20 to ensure their payment is uploaded on the Bescom systems.</p>.<p>“Since it was a small amount, we decided to pay it through net banking. They instructed us to download an app to make the payment. However, soon after the payment, we started receiving OTPs for transactions we had not initiated. Though we did not share any OTP, Rs 10,000 was debited from one of our accounts,” Cherian explained.</p>.<p>The family has now blocked their accounts and raised the complaint with the Cyber Police. Bescom officials say that the incidents have come to their notice and they are now creating awareness among the consumers.</p>.<p>“Though we rarely get a complaint on this, we realised the magnitude of the problem after one of our accounts officer received a fraudulent message. Since then, we have been creating awareness among our consumers. We want to reiterate, that Bescom never sends such messages,” a senior Bescom official said.</p>.<p>Bescom has received at least 10 such complaints in the last few days.</p>.<p>Cherian was amused at how he continues to receive such fraudulent messages even today. “Even after raising a complaint and taking action, I got a similar message even on Sunday,” he said.</p>.<p>A senior officer with the cyber crime police station in CCB, said that they receive complaints from people who have lost their money to online frauds.</p>.<p>“These frauds use OTPs and pin numbers to access your bank accounts to siphon off money. We have repeatedly asked people never to share OTPs and account details, but they continue to do so.”</p>.<p>“We have also warned people never to click on a link shared randomly claiming to be from banks and hospitals. These links are direct access for frauds waiting to cheat people,” said the officer.</p>
<p>In a new form of cybercrime, at least 10 Bescom consumers have received fraudulent messages saying that the power connections to their houses will be disconnected owing to payment failure.</p>.<p>Those who responded to these messages have lost money and have now raised complaints with the cyber crime police.</p>.<p>Wing Commander K Cherian, one of the victims who lost Rs 10,000 to the fraud explained to DH how the trap works. “We received a message two weeks back saying that we have unpaid power bills. Though we received two such messages in a span of two weeks, we ignored them since we had already paid up the bills.”</p>.<p>“However, we got a third message saying that the power will be disconnected by 9 pm if we do not pay the bill. This is when we decided to contact the number mentioned in the message,” he explained.</p>.<p>Once the consumers get in touch with the fraudsters, they pose like the Bescom officials and ask them to make a small payment of either Rs 10 or Rs 20 to ensure their payment is uploaded on the Bescom systems.</p>.<p>“Since it was a small amount, we decided to pay it through net banking. They instructed us to download an app to make the payment. However, soon after the payment, we started receiving OTPs for transactions we had not initiated. Though we did not share any OTP, Rs 10,000 was debited from one of our accounts,” Cherian explained.</p>.<p>The family has now blocked their accounts and raised the complaint with the Cyber Police. Bescom officials say that the incidents have come to their notice and they are now creating awareness among the consumers.</p>.<p>“Though we rarely get a complaint on this, we realised the magnitude of the problem after one of our accounts officer received a fraudulent message. Since then, we have been creating awareness among our consumers. We want to reiterate, that Bescom never sends such messages,” a senior Bescom official said.</p>.<p>Bescom has received at least 10 such complaints in the last few days.</p>.<p>Cherian was amused at how he continues to receive such fraudulent messages even today. “Even after raising a complaint and taking action, I got a similar message even on Sunday,” he said.</p>.<p>A senior officer with the cyber crime police station in CCB, said that they receive complaints from people who have lost their money to online frauds.</p>.<p>“These frauds use OTPs and pin numbers to access your bank accounts to siphon off money. We have repeatedly asked people never to share OTPs and account details, but they continue to do so.”</p>.<p>“We have also warned people never to click on a link shared randomly claiming to be from banks and hospitals. These links are direct access for frauds waiting to cheat people,” said the officer.</p>
