Maharashtra: 29-Year-Old Buldhana Woman Duped Of ₹98K In Bogus Online Contest; Case Registered

The police have initiated a probe into a case wherein unknown scammers had put up a bogus contest on social media platform asking the victims to identify celebrities and assured huge prize money for the winners and induced them to pay money in order to claim the prize amount.

Somendra Sharma Updated: Wednesday, February 05, 2025, 08:22 PM IST
Woman from Buldhana falls victim to bogus online contest scam, loses ₹98K | Representational Image

Woman from Buldhana falls victim to bogus online contest scam, loses ₹98K | Representational Image

Mumbai: The police have initiated a probe into a case wherein unknown scammers had put up a bogus contest on social media platform asking the victims to identify celebrities and assured huge prize money for the winners and induced them to pay money in order to claim the prize amount. A 29-year-old woman recently fell prey to this fraud and ended up losing money in multiple online transactions, police said.

According to the police, the victim hails from Buldhana. On November 18, the victim while watching Instagram reels on her phone came across a reel wherein a contest was posted asking the viewers to identify the photograph of the celebrities/ Bollywood actors shown in the contest. The victim also participated in the contest and clicked on the correct options given in the reel.

The victim also shared her name, mobile number and email ID while participating in the contest. On November 20, the victim received a call from a person who claimed to be from the company that had placed the contest and informed the victim that since she had given all the correct answers, she has won the contest and is eligible for the prize amount of Rs8.50 lakh or a four wheeler.

The caller further told the victim that she would have to pay processing fee, GST and other taxes to claim the prize money. The scammers induced the victim to transfer Rs 98700 in multiple online transactions in order to claim the prize money. However, when the demand for money kept continuing and the victim did not receive prize money in her bank account, she realised that he had been duped.

The victim then approached the police and lodged a complaint in the matter last week. A case has been registered by the police under section 318 (cheating) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and sections 66C (identity theft), 66D (cheating by personation by using computer resource) of the Information Technology Act.

Published on: Wednesday, February 05, 2025, 08:22 PM IST

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