A 21-year-old man was duped of Rs 1 lakh by a cyber fraudster. The 21-year-old was trying to illegally sell his cat on an online marketplace app that is when the fraudster posed as a potential buyer and duped the victim.
According to the Hindustan Times, a first information report (FIR) has been registered by the DN Nagar police against the fraudster on August 25. The 21-year-old, who was duped, is a student from Andheri (West). He had put up an ad on OLX to sell his cat. On August 22, he received a phone call from the cyber-fraudster who expressed interest in buying the pet. The cyber fraudster told the 21-year-old that he would make advance payment and asked the complainant to download an e-wallet to his phone.
Later, the 21-year-old complied and the fraudster then sent him a link to launch the transaction for the advance payment. But, instead of crediting money into the complainant’s account, money was being withdrawn from his account. In total five transactions, total Rs 1 lakh was withdrawn. After this, the complainant realised he had been duped and approached the DN Nagar police and an FIR was lodged under sections 419 (impersonation) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code and 66C (identity theft) and 66D (impersonation using computer resource) of the IT Act.
In the meanwhile, the cops are also considering action against the complainant for the illegal sale of his cat. An OLX spokesperson told the Hindustan Times, “OLX prohibits all illegal acts on its platform. Therefore, all advertisements relating to the sale of animals which are not allowed to be traded in accordance with the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, are prohibited. In addition to wild animals, we also do not allow any advertisements which relate to the sale of dogs - which is regulated by the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Dog Breeding and Marketing) Rules.”
