Senior Citizen Duped of Rs 18.5 Lakh in Online Milk Order Scam

A simple attempt to order a litre of milk on an online platform recently turned into a nightmare for a 71-year-old woman in Mumbai. The elderly ended up losing around Rs 18.5 lakh worth of savings to cyber fraudsters earlier this month.

The woman, a resident of Wadala, received a call on August 4 shortly after placing the order. The caller, introducing himself as “Deepak” from the milk delivery company, persuaded her to stay on the line while he guided her through a link he sent. For nearly an hour, he coaxed her into filling out personal and banking details.

The following day, the same man called again, asking for more information. Police said that once she clicked on the link, the fraudsters were able to remotely access her phone. Over the next two days, money from her three bank accounts was systematically drained.

The woman got suspicious once she noticed around Rs 1.7 lakh missing from her account during a routine visit to the bank branch. The full extent of this fraud was noticed once the elderly woman saw her account cleaned out of Rs 18.5 Lakh.

The search for perpetrators is still underway after the woman registered in FIR, the authorities have also warned the public regarding such sophisticated cyber frauds.

This scam is an example of how unsafe digital transactions have become, particularly for the elderly population. It also shows how daily ordinary activities like ordering groceries or milk online could become a way of exploitation for cybercriminals.

Scammers would typically pose as government or bank officials, telecom operator staff, insurance agents, or delivery executives, as this case highlights, to create trust and urgency, before tricking victims into giving up sensitive information.

Authorities point out that such frauds are not isolated. Just earlier this month, a Pune businessman lost over Rs 2 crore to conmen pretending to be police officers. In Bengaluru, several senior citizens were conned through fake KYC update messages.

Moreover, the Reserve Bank of India has also cautioned people to be wary of clicking any unfamiliar link or downloading applications from unverified sources.

What can seniors do to protect themselves against such cyber fraud?

The government and cybersecurity experts have repeatedly advised people to not trust suspicious calls or links that land in their emails or Whatsapp chats.

Here are some key things you should keep in mind when it comes to digital spaces:

• No official/legitimate service provider or government authority ever asks customers to randomly share their OTPs, passwords, or banking credentials over calls or through random links over social media

• Before sharing any personal information over calls, customers should verify the caller's identity through official company helplines

• Digital transactions should only be carried out using secure apps, websites or payment gateways.

As digital transactions become inseparable from daily life, police and financial institutions continue to warn that awareness remains the strongest defence.