A family in Gwalior allegedly lost ₹98,000 through three unauthorised UPI transactions after a woman clicked on an Instagram advertisement, an action that left her phone completely unresponsive within moments. Police have registered a case and handed the investigation to the cyber cell to figure out exactly how the family's bank account was compromised.
Phone Froze the Moment the Ad Was Clicked
The incident took place in Rudra Pura, under the Purani Chhawani police station area. According to a complaint filed by Jay Pratap Singh Batham, his wife Rachna was browsing Instagram on August 11 when an advertisement appeared on her screen. The moment she clicked it, the phone allegedly froze instantly, none of its functions worked, and the family couldn't even switch the device off.
With the phone stuck, the family took it to a shop near Purani Chhawani crossroads, where the shopkeeper managed to shut it down and restart it. At that point, they had no idea their bank account may already have been compromised.
The Loss Comes to Light at Midnight
It wasn't until around midnight that the situation became clear. Jay Pratap received a bank message related to an instalment payment, and when he checked the account, he found the balance sitting at minus ₹2,970, despite the family having had nearly ₹1 lakh in the account before the incident.
He asked his wife whether she had transferred money to anyone; she said she hadn't. Suspecting cyber fraud, he immediately called the cybercrime helpline at 1930 to report it. The next day, the family visited their bank, where the account statement confirmed that ₹98,000 had been withdrawn through three separate UPI transactions, none of which the family had authorised or carried out themselves.
What Investigators Are Trying to Piece Together
Exactly how those transactions were authenticated, and what actually happened on the phone in the moments after the ad was clicked, hasn't been established yet. The victim filed a complaint with the bank and approached Purani Chhawani police on August 16, after which the case was formally registered and handed to the cyber cell.
Investigators are now focused on the sequence of events between the phone freezing and the three UPI withdrawals, trying to determine exactly how access to the account was gained and who was responsible.
FAQs
Q1. How much money did the Gwalior family lose, and how?
₹98,000 was withdrawn through three unauthorised UPI transactions after the phone became unresponsive following a clicked Instagram ad.
Q2. When did the family realise money had gone missing?
Around midnight on the same day, after receiving a bank message and checking the account balance, which showed minus ₹2,970 instead of the nearly ₹1 lakh it had held earlier.
Q3. What happened to the phone after the ad was clicked?
It reportedly froze immediately and stopped responding entirely, to the point that the family couldn't even switch it off without help from a local shop.
Q4. What is the cyber cell currently investigating?
They're examining the sequence between the phone freezing and the three UPI withdrawals to determine how the family's bank account access was compromised.