Mumbai: A trader from Kandivali becomes a victim of cyber fraud when a man posing as his cousin told him to pay money for a medical emergency. The trader who fell for the trick ended up losing Rs 3 lakh to the fraud.
Following the complaint, the Samta Nagar police registered an offence against an unknown accused under the actions of cheating (420) and cheating by personation (419) of the IPC and under the Information Technology (IT) act sections of Identity theft (66c) and punishment for cheating personation by using a computer resource (66d).
According to the police, recently the trader received a WhatsApp message from an unknown number who claimed to be a cousin of trader's wife. The trader believed him since the fraudster has kept a profile picture of his cousin. He then told the trader that there was a medical emergency and he was in need of Rs 3 lakh urgently. Trader tried calling him several times to know his problems, however, the 'cousin' never answered his calls instead continued chatting with him.
Moreover, he told the trader that this was a question on someone's life and death and assured him that he will return the money in 24 hours. Believing him, the trader transferred him Rs 2 lakh from his wife's account and told that he will send the remaining money soon. The 'cousin' then sent a 'screen shot' of Rs 3 lakh being returned to the trader's account, however, told that it would take 24 hrs to transfer and asked the trader to transfer the remaining Rs 1 lakh.
The trader then transferred Rs 1 lakh, however, the 'cousin' demanded Rs 1 lakh more, it is when the trader contacted his wife only to know that they had never demanded money. After learning about his mistake the trader approached the Samta Nagar police and registered a complaint against the fraudster.
