3 weeks ago
Environment Activist Duped of ₹1.5 Lakh in Gas Bill Scam
A man in Navi Mumbai, India, was tricked by people pretending to work for the gas company.
They sent him a message saying his gas would be turned off because of an unpaid bill.
The unpaid bill was only 12 rupees, which is a very small amount of money.
When they called, they said his earlier payment had not shown up in their system.
They sent him a link on WhatsApp that looked like the official gas company website.
They asked him to install an app file and type in his credit card details.
After he did that, the fraudsters used his cards to take more than 1.5 lakh rupees.
He blocked his cards right away when he got alerts and reported it to the police.
The police are now warning everyone to verify payment demands and never share banking details with strangers.
B. N. Kumar, a Navi Mumbai-based environment activist, was duped of more than ₹1.5 lakh in a cyber fraud.
Fraudsters posing as Mahanagar Gas officials tricked him into paying a fake pending bill of just ₹12.
The caller sent a WhatsApp link to a fake Mahanagar Gas payment page and persuaded Kumar to install an .APK application.
Unauthorised transactions worth over ₹1.5 lakh were carried out using two of his credit cards.
Kumar lodged a complaint with the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal, later transferred to Kopar Khairane Police Station.
- Who
- B. N. Kumar, a Navi Mumbai-based environment activist, and fraudsters posing as Mahanagar Gas officials.
- What
- Kumar was duped of more than ₹1.5 lakh through a fake ₹12 bill payment link and a malicious .APK application.
- Where
- Navi Mumbai, India; the complaint was transferred to Kopar Khairane Police Station.
- When
- Reported on August 6, 2026.
- Why
- The fraudster exploited Kumar's concern over a gas disconnection threat to obtain his credit card details.
Key facts
- Victim
- B. N. Kumar, environment activist
- Amount Lost
- More than ₹1.5 lakh
- Fake Bill Amount
- ₹12
- Impersonated Entity
- Mahanagar Gas
- Location
- Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra
- Date of Report
- August 6, 2026
- Complaint Filed With
- National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP)
- Investigating Station
- Kopar Khairane Police Station
Quotes
B. N. Kumar
Navi Mumbai environment activist who was scammed
“I want people to be extremely cautious. Never install applications received through unsolicited links, especially files ending with the .APK extension, and never share banking credentials with unknown callers. A small payment demand can be a trap to steal your money.”
freepressjournal.in
Police officer
Kopar Khairane Police representative
“We urge citizens to verify any payment demand directly with the service provider, avoid installing APK files from unknown sources, keep credit card spending limits low, and never share OTPs or banking credentials with anyone.”
freepressjournal.in
Sources
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