Panchkula: Two including a woman arrested for cyber fraud

A team of cyber police station arrested two persons, including a woman from Mumbai, for duping a 52-year-old woman of ₹7.79 lakh in lieu of releasing her pension.
The accused were identified as Mohd Abid, hailing from Uttar Pradesh, and his female accomplice Nasrin Banno Irfan Ansari of West Mumbai.
In her complaint, Serina Sona Sidhu, 52, a resident of Amravati Enclave, told the police that her father had retired from the air force. She said after the death of her mother in 2014, she was getting the pension and as a procedure she was to deposit her life certificate every year.
She said in November 2023, a certificate was submitted by her but the pension amount for November and December 2023 was not received even though she had got a message from the bank that they have received the life certificate and her pension will be deposited in her account soon. When she did not receive the amount till January 9, 2024, she searched online for customer helpline of Sparsh Defence Pension. The person answering the call took her pension payment order number and told her that they did not have her data and advised to contact the bank.
After a few hours, she received a call on WhatsApp and the caller identified himself as her bank representative. The caller asked her to download a mobile application and share details of her account so that the pension could deposited. He also asked for OTPs, which she shared, only to later discover that ₹7.79 lakh had been fraudulently debited from her account. A case under Sections 406 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code was then registered at the Cyber Crime police station, Sector 12.
The accused were later arrested from Mumbai on March 30 and were sent to seven-day police custody. Police have recovered gold ornaments and ₹35,000 in cash from the accused. Officials said the accused had bought gold from the stolen money.