Mumbai teenager thwarts cyber fraud and saves parents from financial loss; Here is what happened

A 13-year-old girl from Nalasopara in Palghar district of Maharashtra successfully foiled a cyber fraud attempt on June 11 after receiving fake money transfer alert messages on her phone. his mother, according to a Hindustan Times report.

Despite the fraudster's efforts, the quick-witted teenager managed to outsmart him. According to the report, Virar police registered a case of attempt to cheat against the unknown person.

Nalasopara is part of the greater Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).

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As it happened

Harshada Goyal, an eighth-grade student, was home alone on June 11 when she answered a call on her mother Megha's phone. According to the report, his father was at home and his mother was at the market.

Harshada answered a call from a man who introduced himself as Ashok Sharma and claimed that he had to pay his father. ₹15,000, for which he was given Megha's number for transfer.

At first, the teenager suspected nothing, since the caller told her that he had transferred the money and asked her to check if there was a confirmation message. She saw a message stating that ₹10,000 had been sent and the caller told him he would send the rest ₹5,000 sometimes. Harshada soon received a message that ₹50,000 had been transferred to his mother's account.

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The fraudster claimed to have added an extra zero by mistake and demanded Harshada's return. ₹45,000, at that moment the girl felt something was wrong. She checked her mother's bank account and found that no money had been deposited. She informed the caller that they had not received any money. She also suggested putting her father on a conference call to confirm the identity of the caller. He, however, insisted that she transfer the money quickly, saying he had other payments to make.

Harshada noticed the fraud and threatened to call his father, but the caller insisted that the payment would be processed soon.

“I realized it was a fraudster after checking my mother's bank account online. The police had given a lecture in our school on cyber frauds and their methods, so I knew something was wrong,” Harshada told HT.

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She put the caller on hold and contacted police using a neighbor's phone. She also recorded the conversation during which the fraudster kept urging her to transfer the ₹45,000.

The Nalasopara police took action based on the teenager's statement and the recording of the call. “We are tracing the fraud based on the mobile phone from which Harshada received the call,” said a police officer from Nalasoapara police station.