Mumbai: Enticed with VIP mobile number, businessman loses ₹65K

A 47-year-old construction businessman was duped of ₹65,555 with the lure of a VIP mobile number. The man had received a text message offering platinum numbers of a telecom company for ₹55,555. Masquerading as an official of the telecom firm, the fraudster also gave his mobile number and a bogus email ID. Later, the invoice also bore the firm’s genuine GST number and office address to continue making the deal look genuine.

Invoice sent through bogus email ID of the telecom company

The Kherwadi police said the businessman is a resident of Kothrud in Pune with his office at Bandra East. On Jan 5, he received a text message from PB-PLTNMR with four VIP mobile numbers. The man liked one of the numbers and contacted the messenger for further information.
The conman asked him to share images of his Aadhaar card and PAN cards, asking for ₹55,555 plus ₹9,999 GST for one number. The complainant agreed and asked for an invoice, which was sent through a bogus email ID of the telecom company. The cost was transferred to an account in a private bank named after the telecom firm.

Case registered for cheating, other sections

After paying, the complainant shared a screenshot of the transfer with the fraudster and promptly got a receipt on his email. He was told two persons would visit him for physical verification on Jan 9. On the decided day, the man messaged the fraudster to ask who would be coming for verification but received no response. He then showed the invoices and receipt to friends working in the telecom firm and learnt they were fake.
He then approached the police and got an offence registered in the matter. A case has been lodged for cheating and identity theft, besides other sections, of the Indian Penal Code, and under the Information Technology Act.