Cyber fraudsters continue to use different modus operandi to dupe people. Recently, an operation executive of a leading IT company was duped to the tune of Rs 85,000, when a cyber fraudster assured her to have won a lottery of Rs 35 lakh and lured her into a trap.
The 21-year-old victim, who works in Pune, is currently working from her home in Sakinaka due to the lockdown. Last week, the victim received a call from an unknown number. The caller, who introduced himself as Maharanapratap Singh told her that she has won a lottery of Rs 35 lakh and told her that the number written behind her SIM card is a lucky draw number. When she checked her SIM card she was shocked to find the same five digit number as told by Singh.
The woman immediately received his call back as soon as she switched on her mobile. Singh then told her to pay a tax amount of Rs 15,200 for the lottery. She paid the money almost immediately. Singh then told her to pay another Rs 35,000 as security charges, which she paid immediately.
After a while, Singh told her to pay another Rs 35,000 this time. However, the woman hesitated and asked Singh to return her money. However, Singh told her that to get a refund, she was needed to pay Rs 35,000 more. Hoping to receive her money, she paid Rs 35,000 just to realise that his demands were unending.
Singh then demanded another Rs 25,000 to close her file. By that time, the woman realised her mistake and approached the Sakinaka police. "Since the fraudster knew the exact number written behind her SIM card, the possibility that her service providers’ data got leaked could not be ruled out. On the darknet, such data is available, which is used by such fraudsters," said a police officer.
