E-Paper
Panchkula man looking to file civic complaint online loses ₹73,000
Complainant Rajiv Verma, of Sector 27, Panchkula, in his complainant, said on July 20, 2023, he googled the helpline number of the HSVP to lodge a complaint regarding sewerage
A 63-year-old man attempting to file an online complaint regarding sewerage with the Haryana Shehari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) lost ₹73,000 to online swindlers.
Complainant Rajiv Verma, of Sector 27, in his complaint, said he lived along with his wife and mother, while his children were settled abroad.
He said on July 20, 2023, he looked up the HSVP helpline number on Google to lodge a complaint regarding sewerage.
He called the number provided online and the person who answered the call told him that he will soon get a call from the sanitation department. He then received a call and the caller identified himself as an employee of the sanitation wing. The caller told him that for complaint registration, he will have to pay ₹1. The caller then told him to download AnyDesk app on his mobile phone.
As Rajiv installed the software on his mobile phone and made the payment through his debit card by uploading the required details, ₹73,000 were transferred from his account via two transactions. A case under Sections 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC was registered.
Income tax advocate falls prey to online fraud, loses ₹1.99 lakh
In an attempt to redeem cashback points, a Sector-9 resident lost ₹1.99 lakh. Complainant Ajay Aggarwal, 46, an income tax advocate, told police that he gets 500 points on every transaction of ₹50,000 on his credit card.
On August 10, 2023, he received a message on his mobile phone that 5,899 points had been credited to his name and he could get them redeemed. On August 12, he again got the message, following which he clicked on the link and a page resembling the bank web page opened. He put in the required details and an application was installed on his phone.
Later, he received a call from a person identifying himself as Amit from the bank. The man asked for an OTP that was sent to Ajay’s email on the pretext of verification. Soon after he shared the OTP, ₹1.99 lakh was debited from his account. A case under Section 419 (imprisonment) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered at Sector-12 cyber crime police station.
Lured by a remote job offer, a Mansa Devi resident ended up losing ₹1.30 lakh to cyber fraud.
Complainant Rakesh, of Sector 5, told police that on September 10, 2023, he received a text message from a person identified as Bhasin who offered him a part-time job.
He was told that he will be assigned some tasks, including liking posts on Instagram in exchange for ₹50 per post. He was later added to a Telegram group. The complainant was given tasks and was told that a few of them were pre-paid and thus he was asked to deposit money to get higher returns, following this he ended up losing ₹1.30 lakh. A case was registered.
