E-Paper
Ludhiana: Assistant postmaster loses ₹87k to online loan scamsters
The victim, Sarabjit Singh, was duped after being asked to complete a fake ‘know your customer (KYC) process, which gave the scammers access to his bank account
An assistant postmaster, hoping to secure a ₹2 lakh loan through a mobile application, ended up losing ₹87,000 in a cyber fraud. The victim, Sarabjit Singh, was duped after being asked to complete a fake ‘know your customer (KYC) process, which gave the scammers access to his bank account.
Sarabjit Singh, a resident of Kailey village in the Sudhar area, works at the Halwara village post office. The Cyber Crime police station (Ludhiana Rural) has registered an FIR against unidentified fraudsters.
According to the complainant, he applied for a ₹2 lakh loan through an e-commerce mobile application on November 27. On December 4, he received a call from an unknown person claiming to be a representative of the company, informing him that his loan had been approved but could not be disbursed due to an incomplete KYC.
The caller sent him a link and instructed him to fill a form to complete the KYC process. Singh was then asked to pay ₹5 as a KYC charge. However, as soon as he attempted the payment, ₹86,998 was debited from his bank account.
“I immediately called that person. When I questioned him about the withdrawal, he disconnected the call and switched off the number,” said the complainant. Realising he had been scammed, he filed a complaint with the Jagraon police, which transferred the case to the Cyber Crime police station.
Assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Jagroop Singh, investigating the case, said an FIR has been registered against unidentified accused under Section 318(4) (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Section 66(D) of the Information Technology (IT) Act.
“The investigation is ongoing and we are tracing the bank accounts where the money was transferred,” said ASI Jagroop Singh.
The ASI urged the people to exercise caution while engaging in online financial transactions, especially when asked to click on unknown links or share sensitive information.
