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Chandigarh: PEC registrar loses ₹40k to ‘Airtel gift’ fraud
Colonel Rakesh Mohan Joshi (retd), who lives on the college campus in Sector 12, Chandigarh, told the police that on June 25, he received an e-mail from “Airtel rewards”, intimating him about a gift of ₹22,000, which was to be claimed by June 30, 2023
The registrar of Punjab Engineering College (PEC) became the latest victim of cyber crime as fraudsters duped him of ₹40,978 by offering an “Airtel gift”.
Colonel Rakesh Mohan Joshi (retd), who lives on the college campus in Sector 12, told the police that on June 25, he received an e-mail from “Airtel rewards”, intimating him about a gift of ₹22,000, which was to be claimed by June 30, 2023. The e-mail contained a weblink to claim the reward.
He clicked on the link to claim the reward and was redirected to a webpage, where his credit card details were sought. After he filled up the details, including the expiry date and CVV, an OTP was generated. As soon as he entered the OTP, ₹40,978 were deducted from his credit card. Realising he had being duped, he blocked the credit card and alerted the police.
On his complaint, a case under Sections 419 (cheating by personation) and 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered at the cyber police station in Chandigarh.
Teacher duped of ₹54,500
Panchkula In yet another case of cyber forgery through online appointment for medical treatment, a Sector 12 resident was defrauded of ₹54,500.
The victim, Neha Khattar Dhingra, a resident of Sector 12, is a teacher.
She told the police that on December 15, 2022, she searched for the phone number of Patanjali Yoggram on Google and shared the number with her father-in-law, Ashok Kumar Dhingra, who was looking for treatment for a foot ailment.
On calling the phone number, Ashok was asked to visit the centre on December 19 or December 23, 2022, and details for payment were shared on Neha’s mobile phone. The person answering the call asked them to deposit ₹36,000 for 10-day treatment.
Neha said she transferred the money through Google Pay, following which she was asked for more money. Not convinced, they refused the treatment and were assured that the money will be refunded in 24 hours. Neha was asked to provide her bank account details that she did, but she never got the money back. A case under Sections 419 and 420 of the IPC was registered at the cyber police station Panchkula.
