Beware of calls offering prize money from "Kaun Banega Crorepati” (KBC) as it could be a trap to con you off your hard-earned money.
As the 12th season of the popular quiz show hosted by superstar Amitabh Bachchan started airing on Sony TV from September 28, online fraudsters have begun cashing on the opportunity to dupe people on the pretext of winning cash prizes from the show lottery.
An 18-year-old girl and her mother fell prey to the evil designs of the cyber crooks after they lost Rs. 1.45 lakh to the online scam. In her complaint to the police, the woman stated that her daughter received a voice call on a social networking platform from an unknown caller who claimed to be a representative of the KBC show.
The caller informed her that the answer to the quiz was correct and she had won Rs.25 lakh from the KBC lottery. In an apparent attempt to win the trust of the potential target, the fraudsters asked her to upload scan copies of her parent’s bank passbook, following which she was sent the copy of a Rs. 25 lakh cheque. Initially, the girl transferred Rs. 25,000 towards GST and processing fees to claim the prize money. But the caller again called up and said she was also the lucky winner of a car in addition to the Rs.25 lakh prize money. This time, she was told to transfer Rs. 2.40 lakh towards RTO and car registration charges. They complied and transferred another Rs.1.20 lakh in the specified bank accounts. However, the demands did not stop. Realizing they were duped, a complaint was registered at the Navghar police station in Bhayandar.
“An offence under section 420 of the IPC has been registered against the undefined cyber crooks. While further investigations were underway, the Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar (MBVV) police have appealed to people to be extremely cautious before entering into any type of financial transactions with strangers.
