A woman from Mumbai’s Andheri West fell victim to a cyber scam, losing ₹99,000 after making a seemingly harmless ₹9 UPI payment to a fraudulent cleaning service. The victim, a diabetes educator, was searching online for cleaning services when she encountered a platform called “Urban Club,” believed to be a spoof of the popular service app UrbanClap (now Urban Company). Shortly after, she received a call from a man claiming to be a representative of the platform, who convinced her to download an app supposedly required to book the service. Once installed, the fraudster asked her to make two payments—₹600 and ₹9—to activate her booking. She followed the instructions and completed the ₹9 payment via UPI, unknowingly granting the fraudsters remote access to her device and banking details. The next day, while visiting her bank for an unrelated issue, she was shocked to learn that ₹99,000 had been withdrawn from her account without her knowledge. She immediately filed a complaint at Oshiwara Police Station, where authorities registered a case under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Information Technology Act. Officials believe the app contained remote access software, allowing the fraudsters to mirror her phone activity and collect sensitive data such as OTPs and banking passwords. Mumbai Police has warned citizens to avoid downloading unknown apps and to never share OTPs or banking details with unverified sources.
