CHENNAI: Tangedco and the city police had cautioned consumers two months ago not to fall prey to an SMS fraud in which tricksters duped the gullible by urging them to pay pending electricity bills to avoid disconnection, but police say the number of complaints of such victims is constantly on the rise. The Greater Chennai Police have received 56 complaints in all 12 police districts till Wednesday.
The maximum number of complaints have been received at Adyar (23) followed by T Nagar (12). Some victims have lost several lakhs to the fraud and cyber cops have managed to retrieve the money in full in some cases.
Explaining the modus operandi of the fraud, inspector Santhidevi of the cyber crime police station in Chennai west zone said that the fraudsters send SMSes in the evening hours claiming that the power supply would be disconnected around 10 pm, leaving little time for the victims to process such messages.
