Ludhiana | Lured by promise of cash reward, doctor loses ₹89,000

The accused offered the Ludhiana-based doctor a cash reward against air tickets she had purchased online and asked her to share an OTP; she did not share the OTP, but she immediately lost ₹89,000.

Offered a cash reward against air tickets she had purchased online, a city-based doctor was defrauded of ₹89,000, police officials said on Tuesday.

The accused also shared details of her transaction, and asked her to share an OTP. She did not share the OTP, but she immediately received five messages and lost ₹89,000. (Representative Image/HT File)

In October 2020, the complainant, Christian Medical College and Hospital anesthesiology professor Dr Christina George received a call from the fraudsters, who were posing as bank executives, a day after she booked flight tickets to Udaipur, claiming that she had won reward points for her transaction.

The accused also shared details of her transaction, and asked her to share an OTP. She did not share the OTP, but she immediately received five messages and lost ₹89,000.

Inspector Jatinder Singh, in-charge Cyber Cell, said the money was transferred via the PayU application, and was further transferred into four different bank accounts. It is suspected that while the doctor did not share the OTP, she may have used an unsafe browser or website.

The accused have been identified as Shankar and Vinod Kumar of Uttar Pradesh. A case was registered under Sections 420 (cheating) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been lodged against the accused.