After different scams and frauds done with the common people,
now the hackers have come up with a new strategy to target the innocent people
of different states.
The hackers and fraudsters in different areas like Mumbai,
Delhi, Hyderabad, Punjab, and Pune are sending fake WhatsApp messages or SMS
saying that their previous electricity bill is unpaid and should call on the
given number to resolve the issue. As soon as the local people dial that
number, the hackers try to extract their personal information by trying to talk
to them for a long duration. After extracting the personal data, this whole
information is used by the fraudsters to withdraw a huge sum of money from their
accounts.
In the past few days, almost 22 residents of Jalandhar have
received this fake message.
Suraj Kumar, a resident of Rama Mandi, said:
"I received an SMS from number-9314417540. In the message, it was written
that my electricity connection will be disconnected tonight at 9.30 pm from the
electricity office because my previous month's bill was not paid. They also
provided a number-7855788216, and it was written that I should immediately call
the electricity officer on this number to resolve the matter."
"I immediately called my father to confirm if our bill
was paid. When he confirmed that there is no pendency, I became alert and
checked the message again. When I read the message again, there were many
punctuation and spelling errors and from there I got a clear idea that it's
fake," he added.
Not only this the cyber cell has also confirmed that they
have received complaints from many people regarding this issue, but no
financial loss has been registered till now. A city-based cyber cell expert has
also said that it is a national-level scam that is being carried out by
professional hackers.
After all this, the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited
has issued a circular with some important guidelines in it. The guidelines
inform that the electricity board never sends any message through WhatsApp or
SMS. It has also warned people not to fall into the trap of such fake messages
and register a complaint against it in the cyber cell.