Man duped of ₹2.7 Lakh in online fraud

The V P Road police have registered a cyber cheating case after a 59-year-old man has been duped to the tune of Rs 2.78 lakh.
The fraudsters promised him the franchise of a popular shopping portal and lured the victim into a trap; they also assured him to bear 60 per cent expenses to make him believe them. The fraudsters have been duping him for the last two months; however, the victim got suspicious when they stopped entertaining him, said police.
The victim works for an event management company. In the last week of August, he saw an advertisement on a social media platform offering an E-cart courier franchise of a leading shopping portal. The contact number of relationship manager Nitin Singh along with email ID, was also provided in the comment box.
Once contacted via email, the victim received an application form and was asked to pay Rs 28,600 as a registration fee. The victim filed the form and paid the registration charges, said police. Days later, he was asked to send a quotation to set up an office. The fraudster also assured him that the company bore 60 per cent of equipment expenses while he had to pay the remaining.
Believing them, the victim paid Rs 95,553 as demanded; however, once the money was received, the fraudster claimed that he delivered in the wrong account and asked to send again in another tab and assured him that earlier charges would be refunded soon.
Since everything was going on email, the victim believed it to be genuine and continued to pay further. In the second week of October, he has been again asked to pay another ₹ 58,800 towards insurance. The victim paid the money, hoping to get a franchisee; however, suddenly, Singh stopped entertaining him, neither there was any response to his phone. The victim even tried the customer care number of the shopping portal; however there as well he did not get a proper answer. It was then he realised his mistake and approached the police, said an officer.
On Monday, the V P Road police registered an offence of cheating along with 66C (identity theft) and 66D (cheating by personation using computer resources) of the Information Technology act. We are trying to locate the fraudster with their mobile numbers and accounts used in the fraud, said an officer from V P Road police station.