In a shocking incident, a judge in Mumbai lost ₹93,000 from his bank account after he fell victim to a cyber fraud. According to an FIR filed by a judge in a small cases court in Mumbai, the incident happened on March 30 after a pink line appeared on the display of his Android smartphone.
The judge said in his complaint that he searched the internet for Samsung India’s helpline number to get his Galaxy S22 repaired. According to the FIR, the call went unanswered as the line appeared to be busy.
Judge scammed by ‘customer care representative’
Later, however, the judges received a call from a different number, from a person claiming to be a Samsung customer care representative. After hearing the judge’s complaint, the “customer care representative” asked him to install the APK file to register the service request.
After the judge installed the APK file, a “customer care representative” asked him to transfer it ₹20 via Google Pay in two installments ₹10 each for verification purposes. The judge said this after he transferred ₹20 received a “request in progress” message via Google Pay.
But things took an unexpected turn after a judge noticed two unauthorized transactions from his State Bank of India account ₹90,000 a ₹3,000 through UPI.
Realizing that he was cheated, the judge reported the matter to the national cyber hotline and also lodged an FIR at the Tardeo police station.
What the police found
Based on the magistrate’s complaint, an FIR was registered under the relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act. During the investigation, the police found that the fraudulently transferred amount was sent to a PhonePe account in the name of Pappu Sachin Yadav.
The Bombay HC judge lost ₹6 million
Last month, a judge of the Bombay High Court lost ₹6 lakh in a cyber fraud case while trying to redeem HDFC credit card reward points using a number he found online.
Increase in cyber fraud cases in India
Recent years have seen an increase in cybercrime in India, including financial fraud, investment fraud, identity theft, phishing attacks and cyber-arrest.
India will see a total of 28.15 million cybercrime cases in 2025, a 24% increase from the 22.68 million cases reported in 2024, according to government data.
The Indians lost ₹22,495 million cyber frauds in 2025 compared to ₹22,845 crore in 2024, the data showed.
