A 32-year-old man from Mira Road working with a private telecommunications firm was the latest target of cyber crooks who lured him with an offer of free gifts on a fake online portal of a reputed fashion and lifestyle brand.
In his statement to the police, the complainant said he received a call from a person claiming to be an executive of the online shopping company. He was told that the company was giving free gifts to selected customers.
Crooks told to purchase items worth 5,000 to claim gift
The cyber crook explained that to claim the gift, the man had to purchase items worth at least Rs.5,000 from their website. Following this, he would be eligible to receive free gifts in the form of electronic gadgets.
Convinced by the offer, the complainant ordered some clothes and footwear from the website and made a payment of Rs.5,710. He was later told that he was eligible to receive an iPhone as a free gift. However, to claim the gift, he was asked to transfer Rs.14,490 as part of GST payment. The complainant complied, but the demands continued on various pretexts, such as incorrect amount transferred and wrong OTPs.
Victim ended up losing Rs.1.12 lakh
The crooks convinced him that these payments would be refunded subsequently. By then, the complainant had ended up losing Rs.1.12 lakh within three hours. He neither received the ordered goods or iPhone, nor was the amount refunded. The callers became unreachable.
An offence under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and relevant sections of the Information Technology Act, 2000 was registered at the Naya Nagar police station against the callers on Saturday. Further investigations are underway.
FPJ Cyber Secure |
