Cyber Scam Shocks Legal Fraternity: Bombay High Court Judge Duped of ₹6 Lakh
(By Syed Ali Taher Abedi)
Mumbai,7, February,2026-A sitting judge of the Bombay High Court has fallen victim to an online credit card fraud, allegedly losing more than ₹6 lakh in a sophisticated cyber scam.
The incident has prompted the Mumbai Police to initiate a criminal investigation after a complaint was lodged with the Cuffe Parade Police Station in South Mumbai.
According to officials, the police have registered a First Information Report (FIR) under provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 against unidentified cyber fraudsters.
As per the complaint, the judge had searched online for the customer care number of the bank’s credit card service to redeem accumulated reward points.
A helpline number that appeared in the search results seemed authentic, prompting the judge to place a call.
The person who answered the call allegedly introduced himself as a representative of the bank’s credit card department and assured assistance in redeeming the reward points.
During the conversation, the caller reportedly sent a link through WhatsApp and instructed the judge to download an application file to process the reward redemption.
The FIR records that when the file could not be opened on the judge’s iPhone, another smartphone available at the residence was used to download and install the application.
The judge was then directed to enter credit card details on a webpage that opened through the application.
Soon after submitting the information, several high-value transactions were allegedly executed using the credit card.
In the complaint, the judge stated: “Immediately after submitting the details, I received multiple transaction alerts on my credit card. That is when I realised that I had been duped.” The complaint lists four unauthorised debits amounting to ₹6,02,566.
Realising the fraud, the judge immediately contacted the bank’s official customer care helpline and requested that the card be blocked.
A complaint was also lodged with the national cybercrime helpline through the official cybercrime reporting portal before approaching the local police station.
The police have registered offences against unknown persons under Sections 66 and 66C of the Information Technology Act, 2000, which deal with computer-related offences and identity theft, as well as Sections 3(5), 318(4) and 319(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 relating to cheating and cheating by impersonation.
Investigators are now examining digital trails and call records to trace the perpetrators behind the cyber fraud.
The incident has once again highlighted the growing sophistication of online financial scams targeting even highly aware individuals.
