An alert 13-year-old from Nalasopara managed to outwit a cyber fraudster who attempted to scam her with false money transfer messages, even as they attempted to dupe her. In spite of their best efforts, she exposed their fraud and alerted the police who are now working on it.
Harshada Goyal of Nalasopara was an exceptional example of quick thinking when she foiled an attempted cyber fraudster attempt at scamming her family and registered a case with police against him. Not only was Harshada successful at stopping this particular scheme but she was instrumental in helping police take legal action against the criminal.
Harshada was home alone on an otherwise ordinary Tuesday, her parents being at work and Megha out shopping. Suddenly, Harshada received a phone call from a person calling themselves Ashok Sharma who claimed they owed Rs 15,000 from Harshada’s father and needed Megha’s phone number for payment to be transferred over. Harshada answered and revealed her number and transferred funds back.
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Harshada agreed without question and received a message confirming her purported transfer of Rs 10,000, only for another message shortly afterwards to state that Rs 50,000 had in fact been transferred – apparently by mistake! In response, Sharma, playing as an anxious sender, requested Harshada transfer back 45,000.
Harshada quickly recognized something was amiss when her instincts kicked in and checked her mother’s bank account and saw that no money had been deposited. To investigate further, Harshada decided to put Sharma on conference call with her father so as to confirm his identity – an action the scammer insisted upon immediately to avoid more transfers and withdrawals.
Harshada quickly realized she was dealing with a conman, so she threatened to call her father again as soon as the fraudster continued harassing her. His persistence only confirmed her suspicions further.
Harshada explained she discovered he was a fraud while checking my mother’s bank account online. Following a lecture by police at her school about cyber frauds and their methods, Harshada knew something was amiss.
Harshada quickly responded, taking action. She placed the fraudster on hold while calling her neighbor’s phone to call police while recording everything that took place during their conversation. Unbeknownst to Harshada, however, the fraudster attempted to convince her to transfer Rs 45,000.
Nalasopara police station were impressed with Harshada’s quick wit and intelligence and therefore arrested the fraudster based on her statement and call recording. Police officer from Nalasopara police station said “we are tracing this fraud by using Harshada’s mobile number as it’s how they received calls”.
Harshada Goyal stands as a testament to cyber fraudsters being outwitted even at 13 years old! Her vigilance can outwit even the craftiest fraudsters.
