Transferring money into a caller’s account without verifying his identity cost a Ludhiana-based trader dear as he ended up losing ₹6.20 lakh to an online fraudster.
As per Manmohan Singh, 59, a resident of Ishar Nagar, he received a WhatsApp call from a foreign number on October 10. The caller addressed him as mama ji (maternal uncle) which led Manmohan to believe that it was his nephew, Jagmeet Singh, who is settled in Canada.
The caller told the victim that he was in a club in Canada and had got into a scuffle with some people, and thus needed money to settle the matter.
Sensing urgency, Manmohan immediately transferred ₹6.20 lakh to the caller’s account and the latter promised to return the money within a week.
After a week, Manmohan rang up his nephew in Canada and asked him for the money. His nephew told him that neither had he got into any scuffle nor had he borrowed any money from him.
It was then that the Manmohan realised he had been tricked, and approached the police.
Based on his complaint, the Sadar Police have registered a case under Section 420 (cheating) and Section 66D of the Information and Technology Act against an unidentified person.