Navi Mumbai Cyber Fraud: 46-Year-Old Kalamboli Businessman Duped Of ₹5.20 Lakh In Fake Traffic Challan Scam; Case Registered
· Free Press Journal
Navi Mumbai, September 29, 2026: A 46-year-old transport businessman from Kalamboli was allegedly duped of Rs 5.20 lakh after cyber fraudsters sent him a fake message claiming that a traffic challan had been issued against his vehicle.
The victim clicked on the link provided in the message, following which his mobile phone was allegedly compromised and money was withdrawn from his bank account through five transactions.
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Taloja police have registered a case against unidentified cyber fraudsters under Section 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Sections 66(C) and 66(D) of the Information Technology Act.
The complainant, Kasim Karadali Sheikh, lives in Kalamboli and runs a transport business in Taloja MIDC. On September 19, when his vehicles were parked as it was a holiday, he received a message at around 7 am claiming that a traffic challan had been issued against one of his vehicles.
Phone Allegedly Compromised
As the vehicles were parked, Sheikh became suspicious and opened the link in the message to check the details. The link prompted him to update his mobile phone. Suspecting that it could be fraudulent, he did not enter any information and closed the link.
However, within moments, his phone became unusually hot and automatically went into an update mode. He also started receiving multiple OTP messages. On the advice of a friend, Sheikh performed a factory reset of the phone, following which the OTP messages stopped.
When he subsequently reactivated Google Pay and PhonePe, the OTP messages started arriving again. He then deactivated his old SIM card and obtained a new one.
Rs 5.20 Lakh Debited
On September 20, after receiving confirmation that the new SIM card had been activated, Sheikh checked his bank account through his mobile applications and found that Rs 5.20 lakh had been debited through five transactions.
He immediately contacted his bank's helpline and requested that the transactions be stopped. He also lodged a complaint on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal before approaching Taloja police.
"We are tracing the digital trail of the transactions and the link used to target the complainant. Citizens should not click on links received through unsolicited messages claiming to be traffic challans. They should also avoid downloading APK files or sharing OTPs, UPI PINs and banking credentials with anyone," said a Taloja police official.
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Police have appealed to citizens to verify traffic challans through official government platforms and remain cautious of suspicious links received through SMS or messaging applications.
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