A 33-year-old Andheri-based finance officer fell prey to a cyber con and lost ₹50,000 on the pretext of paying a premium of a life insurance policy. The unidentified accused in this case seemed to have all the information of the insurance policy, which trapped the complainant over a phone call. While a case of cheating and impersonation has been registered at Andheri police station under sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Information Technology (IT) Act, police are probing the matter.
According to Andheri Police sources, the incident occurred on August 20, at around 11.30 am, when the complainant, who is employed with a leading provider of financial advice and capital, received a phone call from an unknown number. The caller on the other end identified himself as an employee of PNB MET Life Insurance company, and claimed that two premiums of the insurance bought in 2013 are due, said the complainant in his statement to the police.
"After the caller mentioned the policy number and said that after paying two premiums, I will be eligible to get ₹1.98 lakh, he shared the mobile number of his relationship manager and asked me to get in touch. Upon calling this manager, he mentioned the policy number, my father's name, which led to me believing it was an authentic call, wherein my father could have taken the policy and I complied with his demands of sending a soft copy of my PAN card, AADHAAR card and a cancelled cheque," the statement in the First Information Report (FIR) read.
The complainant soon received a link on WhatsApp, wherein he tapped it and wired ₹50,003 by entering his wife's debit card details. Subsequently, the amount was debited from the account of the complainant's wife, however, he was told that the insurance company would send them a message of receipt, which they awaited.
After waiting for a while, the finance officer found something amiss and contacted the PNB MET Life Insurance company by looking up their number on a local search engine, only to realise that they never made any such calls and informed the complainant that he has been duped.
The finance officer immediately approached the Andheri Police and lodged a complaint, acting on which an FIR was registered against the unidentified accused. While police have written to the bank's nodal officer to freeze the amount and approached the recipient's account to seek more details, the investigation is underway and no arrests have been made yet.
