Are you OK?

Murali looked annoyingly at the phone that was ringing. Murali holds a top position in a large company and has a private secretary to assist with his miscellaneous work. But, he is compelled to look into it now as she is on leave. Since morning, this was the third time that he received a call from that number. The caller informed him that the electricity bill was pending and had to pay immediately, failing which power would be disconnected. He also saw that there were two to three messages on his mobile with the same information. Today, there is an important board meeting in the company. While preparing for the same, receiving the phone calls was a disturbance. With no choice left, Murali packed his briefcase, hung his coat on his shoulder, and left for the office. The phone rang once again, and he picked it up reluctantly. 

"Good morning Sir. We are calling from the Electricity Department. Your bill is pending. We have already sent messages and also called on your phone. You are not responding. If this is the case, we will disconnect your power connection by evening," said the person on the other end. 

"No! How can you do it so suddenly? If the power is disconnected, it will be a big problem. Again for re-connection, we have to go around your offices for months. However, we never had any pending bills. Besides that, my secretary is also on leave today. When she arrives tomorrow, she will check the pending bills and clear them," said Murali. 

"Sir. There is not much time. We have already extended the time. I need to confirm with my head office about disconnection unless you pay the bill immediately." 

"It's not possible. I'm telling you that my bills are not pending. I will check tomorrow and make the payment if required." 

"Sir, do something." 

"I'm busy and traveling. I'll talk later."

"One minute, Sir. I understand that you will be busy. But you also need to understand our problem. Do one thing. I have sent you a message. There is a link in it. Clicking on it will open our department app for you. At least if you do that, I will report the same information to my head office and stop the disconnection till tomorrow." 

"OK. Send it right away. I will check it and open it," said Murali. 

In the meantime, when the car reached the office, he quickly opened the message, clicked on the link, and rushed to the board meeting. 

He has such meetings every day. Being in a top position, he had to attend board meetings, review meetings with the operating staff, and drive the business. There were occasions when he could not handle many personal things. Therefore, the company appointed a secretary to look after his work. So far, the secretary never seems to have kept any work pending. But this time, it is surprising that she has forgotten to pay the electricity bill. "She told me that her father was unwell and had health problems. That may be a reason she forgot," thought Murali and got engrossed in his work. 

Lunchtime. He was having sandwiches and coffee. The meeting continued till four in the evening. Before the next meeting started, they had a small break. He remembered that he promised to send money to a boy known to him for his education expenses. Realizing that he had not done it, he searched for the message, found the account number, and sent ten thousand rupees to the boy. Then, he went to the next meeting. 

Leaving the office at nine o'clock in the night, Murali sat in the car and turned his attention to the phone. There were five messages from the bank. Those messages indicated the withdrawal of money from his bank account. 

"I sent only ten thousand rupees. Why do I get so many messages for a single transaction? We think that information technology has developed a lot. But, still, there are mistakes galore. Otherwise, what is the point of getting five messages for a single transaction." Thinking in this manner, Murali opened the messages and looked at them. He was startled and shocked when he realized that rupees ten lakhs had been transferred from his account through four transactions in the past two hours. 

Apart from him, only his secretary knew the bank passwords. "Had she committed any mischief without his knowledge?" So far, there has been no such suspicion. However, she has not paid the electricity bill, someone has withdrawn from his account without his knowledge, and at the same time, she is on leave. No matter how much he earns, a loss, of rupees ten lakhs, is devastating. He immediately called the lawyer and informed him about his decision to file a complaint against the secretary. Murali asked the lawyer to come directly to the police station and diverted his car to go there. By the time he reached the station, the Sub Inspector was available, as he got the message from the lawyer. Meanwhile, the lawyer also arrived there. 

The Sub Inspector enquired about all the details, and Murali gave him the relevant details of his secretary. At the same time, he opened the bank account on his mobile and handed over the screenshots to the sub-inspector. During the discussion, it transpired that there were no suspicious cases against the secretary. Similarly, according to the bank records, the money from his account went to other banks. 

After further questioning, Murali recalled the happenings of the morning. He told the police about the conversation on the electricity bill and that he had clicked a link given in the message. The Sub Inspector took Murali's phone and checked it. It turned out that an app had been downloaded on the phone when Murali clicked on the link in the morning. It seems the other person captured his credentials when he made the bank transaction through his phone. Somehow, the other person took control of his phone. Murali was surprised to know all this. 

Since he was a reputed person, the police immediately initiated the necessary steps. They talked to the bankers and got details of where the money had gone. They could manage to block the payment of four lakhs from those accounts at other banks. The Sub Inspector conveyed that the cyber crime department would investigate the case. Coming out of the police station, Murali saw a pamphlet on the notice board. 

'If you get a phone call from strangers, don't disclose your details without knowing who the other person is. Never click on suspicious links which come through SMS, email, or other means. If you have the following apps on your phone, understand that the phone got hacked. Take proper precautions immediately.' 

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'If you notice that the money has been taken from your account fraudulently, please notify your bank immediately.' 

Murali realized it was not right to feel intelligent by reading ten business papers daily. It was his fault that he could not understand the situation around him, and also who the good people are, and who the cheaters are.