Ratlam (Madhya Pradesh): In yet another instance of deceptive online advertisements, a youth from Ratlam lost Rs 17.5 lakh to cyber criminals in a bike agency scam.
According to the reports, victim Jai Sharma, residing on College Road, reported the fraud on February 28. He claimed to have received two emails on February 11 about Royal Enfield offering dealership opportunities.
Sharma expressed interest via email, prompting a call from a person identifying as Gaurav Aggarwal as agency representative.
He also requested personal documents such as biodata, PAN card, Aadhaar card and location details. Subsequently, Sharma received a dealer enrollment form.
Similarly, Deepak Mishra, posed as head of dealer development cell, demanded a registration fee of Rs 2.5 lakh. Sharma transferred the amount on January 30.
The accused further demanded Rs 10 lakh for security purposes. Believing them, Sharma transferred the demanded amount on February 6.
Despite assurances of a site visit by the ‘company officials’ on February 27, however, no such visit took place.
Several attempts to contact Aggarwal and Mishra proved futile as both of them switched off their phones.
Sharma came to know about the fraud when contacted the company's customer care.
A case was registered under Section 420 of the IPC and a probe launched.
