Beware of fake calls offering freebies and prize money from popular quiz shows, as it could be a trap to cheat you off your hard-earned money.
More than a month after the 12th season of Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) hosted by superstar Amitabh Bachchan concluded on January 22, the Vasai police registered a FIR against online fraudsters who duped a 44-year-old school teacher of more than Rs. 19 lakh on the pretext of winning cash prizes from the show lottery.
In her complaint to the police, the woman stated that her son who studies in Rajasthan had received a voice call on a social networking platform from an unknown caller who claimed to be a representative of KBC, while the show was being aired last month. The caller informed he had won Rs. 25 lakh from the KBC lottery and established contact with his mother (complainant).
In an apparent attempt to win the trust of the potential target, the fraudsters sought bank account details and other identification documents. Initially the unsuspecting school teacher transferred Rs. 5.15 lakh towards tax deductions in order to claim the prize money. But the fraudsters called up again and said she was also the lucky winner of a car worth Rs. 1 crore in addition to the Rs.25 lakh prize money. This time, she was told to transfer Rs. 14.17 lakh in a digital wallet account towards registration charges. The complainant complied but the demands were unending.
Realizing that she was duped, an offence was registered at the Vasai police station under the relevant sections of the IPC and Information Technology Act against the cyber crooks. While further investigations were underway, the Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar (MBVV) police have appealed to people to be extremely cautious before entering into any type of financial transactions with strangers.
