A Mumbai Small Causes Court judge lost Rs 93,000 after calling a fake Samsung customer care number found on Google and installing an APK file. Police have registered a case under IPC and IT Act as cyber fraud targeting judges continues to rise.
A judge of the Small Causes Court in Mumbai has filed a police complaint after becoming a victim of an online fraud and losing ₹93,000 to a scammer who pretended to be a Samsung customer care executive. The incident shows how cyber criminals are now targeting even highly educated and aware individuals by using simple but convincing online tricks.
According to a first information report (FIR) lodged on March 30, the incident happened when the judge noticed a pink line on the display of his Samsung S22 mobile phone while he was at work.
Since the phone was facing a display issue, the judge searched for Samsung’s customer care number on Google to get the problem fixed. He found a phone number online and called it, believing it to be an official helpline.
After some time, a man called the judge from another number and claimed that he was a Samsung customer care representative. He told the judge that in order to register the service request, he would need to install an application file (APK) on his phone. Trusting the caller, the judge followed the instructions and installed the APK file on his device.
The caller then asked the judge to transfer a small amount of ₹20 through Google Pay to “verify” the process and complete the service request. The judge transferred the amount as instructed. However, soon after making this payment, the judge noticed two unauthorized transactions from his State Bank of India account, which was linked to Google Pay. The transactions were of ₹90,000 and ₹3,000, making the total fraud amount ₹93,000.
Realizing that he had been cheated, the judge immediately contacted the national cyber crime helpline by dialing 1930 and reported the incident. He later went to Tardeo Police Station in Mumbai and officially lodged an FIR regarding the cyber fraud.
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During the investigation, it was found that the money that was fraudulently transferred had been diverted to a PhonePe account registered in the name of one Pappu Sachin Yadav. The police have registered a case under the relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act and have started an investigation to trace the accused and recover the money.
This is not the first time that members of the judiciary have become victims of cyber fraud in Mumbai. Just last month, a sitting judge of the Bombay High Court also filed a complaint with the Cuffe Parade police after being cheated of more than ₹6 lakh. In that case, the judge was trying to redeem HDFC credit card reward points and had called a number found through an online search, which turned out to be a fraudulent number.
In another similar incident that took place in 2023, a former Chief Justice of the High Court lost nearly ₹50,000 after he clicked on a phishing link related to updating PAN card details. He later filed an FIR with the Mumbai Police Cyber Cell.
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These incidents highlight the growing number of cyber fraud cases in India and show how scammers are using fake customer care numbers, APK files, phishing links, and online payment apps to cheat people.
The case also serves as an important reminder that people should always use official websites and verified customer care numbers, and should never install unknown APK files or share banking or payment details with unknown callers.
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