Mumbai: The brazenness of cyber fraudsters was once again at full display. Apart from duping a 23-year-old man of ₹41.49 lakh on the pretext of allotting him a petrol pump station, the gang also called him all the way to Giridih, a city in Jharkhand for meeting. The Bhiwandi resident was in for a rude shock when no Indian Oil company 'officials' showed up for discussion.
In his police complaint, the man, who is the son of a garment trader, said that he came across an advertisement regarding an online application for the allotment of a petrol pump station last year. On December 13, he virtually submitted his candidature, after which he received a call from a person claiming to be the Indian Oil company official.
Saying that the man's application has been selected, the caller then shared a form, while asking to share it on WhatsApp after filling it. Later, other scammers impersonated Indian Oil officials and conducted a video meeting with the complainant. Notably, they also showed him land in Giridih, saying that the petrol pump station will come up on the very plot.
Executing the plan's final part, the gang took money from the complainant on various pretexts like registration fee, security deposit, licensing and machinery. In a span of one month, the man transferred ₹41.49 lakh to the cons. Subsequently, the fraudsters even shared bogus documents, containing the logo of Indian Oil Corporation, with the man and asked him to come to Giridih on January 12.
Last week, a case was registered under the Indian Penal Code sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 465 (forgery) and provision 66D (cheating by personation by using computer resource) of the Information Technology Act.
