Mumbai teen outsmarts cyber fraudster, saves parents from financial loss
A quick-thinking act by a 13-year-old girl from Nalasopara, within the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), successfully prevented a cyber fraud attempt on her family on June 11, police said. Harshada Goyal received a call on her mother's phone from a man claiming to be Ashok Sharma that day. During their conversation, he said he needed to transfer ₹15,000 to her father. The caller then claimed he had transferred the money and asked Harshada to check for a confirmation message.
Teenager detects fraud, saves parents from financial loss
Goyal initially didn't suspect anything wrong as she received a message indicating that ₹10,000 had been transferred. However, when the caller claimed he had mistakenly transferred ₹50,000 and asked her to return ₹45,000, she became suspicious. Goyal checked her mother's bank account online and found no money had been deposited. She then suggested involving her father in a conference call to confirm the caller's identity.
Teenager contacts police, records fraudster's conversation
Despite the fraudster's insistence that she quickly make the transfer, Goyal put him on hold and contacted the police using a neighbor's phone. She also recorded the conversation where the caller kept urging her to transfer ₹45,000. "I realised he was a fraud after I checked my mother's bank account online," Goyal told Hindustan Times. "The police had given a lecture in our school about cyber frauds and their methods, so I knew something was wrong,' she said.
Police act on teenager's statement and call recording
Based on Goyal's statement and the recorded conversation, the Nalasopara police have initiated action. The police are currently tracing the fraud based on the mobile phone number from which Goyal received the call. "We are tracing the fraud based on the mobile phone from which Harshada received the call," said a police officer from Nalasopara police station.
