NOB- West Godavari news: Cyber scammers are sending messages saying ‘Dear consumer, you have not paid your electricity bill for the last month, so we are stopping your electricity supply from tonight.’ Due to the lack of awareness about cyber frauds, some call the phone numbers in this message and fall into the trap of scammers. A similar incident came to light in West Godavari district. In the name of current bill, cyber crooks cheated Rs.1.85 lakhs. In the month of March, Kalidindi Pedaramakrishnamraj of Pedapulleru village received a message from an unknown number. You did not pay your electricity bill last month. Therefore it says that your home electricity is being cut. They were given a contact number for other information. Ramakrishnam Raju called that phone number. He said that he settled the current bill with the person who picked up the phone. If he sends a link and clicks on it, he can know whether the bill has been paid or not.

Ramakrishnamraju clicked the link believing the words of that cyber fraudster. Clicking on that link took him to a website. It does not contain electricity bill details. Ramakrishtam Raju once again called the person and said that there is no current bill details in that link. The other person says that he will know if he pays Rs.5 for the phone number sent to him. Believing his words, Krishnamraju paid Rs.5 to that phone number. Later, when the other person did not attend the phone call, Ramakrishnan Raju gave up on the matter. But in the month of August, he needed money and went to Bank to withdraw it from his account. On March 28, it was reported that Rs.1.85 lakh was missing from his account. Confused by this, Kristhamraju approached the police. On March 28, the police found that the cybercriminals had stolen the money on the pretext of not paying the current bill. The cyber police is investigating the case. Police advised not to open links from unknown persons.

‘Dear consumer, your electricity supply will be cut off tonight as you are unable to pay your last month’s bill. The electricity authorities suggest to be alert on WhatsApp and phone messages coming saying ‘please click on the following link to pay the bill’. They said that they have come to the notice of non-payment of electricity bills and online frauds. Cyber fraudsters hack people’s phones online and send similar messages. Officials advised users not to click on such messages and links. It is said that users’ bank accounts are emptied if they click on the link sent by cyber criminals by mistake. If such messages are received, they are asked to inform the electricity authorities and the cyber crime police.