A judge of the Small Causes Court in Mumbai has lodged a police complaint after being duped of ₹93,000 in an online fraud by a caller posing as a Samsung customer care executive.

According to a first information report (FIR) lodged on March 30, the incident occurred when the judge's Samsung S22 phone developed a pink line on its display while at work.

The judge searched for Samsung’s official helpline on Google and dialed a number found online.

A man calling himself a Samsung representative later contacted the judge from a different number and advised installation of an application file (APK) to register a service complaint.

The judge followed the instructions and transferred ₹20 via Google Pay to “verify” the process.

Soon after, the jude noticed two unauthorized transactions of ₹90,000 and ₹3,000 from State Bank of India account linked to Google Pay.

As per the complaint, the diverted funds were traced to a PhonePe account in the name of one Pappu Sachin Yadav.

The judge immediately reported the matter to the national cyber helpline (1930) and later filed an FIR at Tardeo Police Station.

Police have registered a case under relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act and launched a probe into the cyber fraud.

Last month, a sitting judge of the Bombay High Court similarly approached Cuffe Parade police after being duped of over ₹6 lakh while trying to redeem HDFC credit card reward points using a number found via an online search.

Another instance in 2023 saw a former Chief Justice of the High Court lose nearly ₹50,000 after clicking on a phishing link about updating PAN details, prompting him to lodge an FIR with the Mumbai Police Cyber Cell.