Panchkula: Two men lose over ₹21 lakh in separate online scams

Police have registered cases against unknown accused persons in both cases and initiated investigations

Two Panchkula residents were allegedly duped of more than ₹21 lakh in separate cyber frauds involving a fake e-challan link and an online e-commerce business, the police said.

A Pinjore resident, Gurmeet Singh, was allegedly duped of nearly ₹20 lakh after being lured into an online e-commerce business. (HT File)

In the first case, a Sector 20 resident, Guneet Gaur, allegedly lost ₹1.28 lakh after clicking a fraudulent e-challan link received on his mobile phone.

According to an FIR registered by the cyber crime police on August 29, Gaur received a message on August 27 claiming that his vehicle had an unpaid ₹1,000 e-challan. The link took him to a fake website, where he entered his details and subsequently received multiple one time passwords (OTPs). After sharing the OTPs, ₹1,28,852 was debited from his credit card. He reported the fraud through the cybercrime helpline 1930.

In the second case, a Pinjore resident, Gurmeet Singh, was allegedly duped of nearly ₹20 lakh after being lured into an online e-commerce business by a woman he met on social media. She allegedly persuaded him to create a seller account and make repeated UPI payments for purchasing and selling products. Between July 7 and August 21, he transferred around ₹15.26 lakh and deposited additional amounts into bank accounts. He became suspicious after being asked to deposit another ₹10 lakh.

Police have registered cases against unknown accused persons in both cases and initiated investigations.