E-Paper
Three Chandigarh residents fall prey to online fraudsters
In his complaint, Sunil Kumar Setia, who runs his homoeopathy clinic in Sector 37, Chandigarh, said he received a WhatsApp call from a person identifying himself as Primal on September 26 asking about medical treatment for his students. He asked for a few details about the clinic, fee and payment mode.
Three city residents including a doctor fell prey to fraudsters online in separate cases.
In his complaint, Sunil Kumar Setia, who runs his homoeopathy clinic in Sector 37, said he received a WhatsApp call from a person identifying himself as Primal on September 26 asking about medical treatment for his students. He asked for a few details about the clinic, fee and payment mode.
Setia then received a call from another person who asked him to approve Google Pay payments to receive the payment. Upon doing so, the complainant lost ₹50,000.
In the second case, Ashok Kumar Bakshi, of Sector 51, told the police that on December 23, he had received a WhatsApp message on his mobile, saying that his electricity connection would be disconnected owing to non-payment of bill. He was asked to contact a number provided in the message.
Upon contacting the said person, the complainant was asked to download an app to update the payment and was asked to pay a fee of ₹15 through his debit card. However, ₹49,998 was fraudulently withdrawn from his account.
Another complaint was lodged by a Sector 56 resident, who lost ₹8,700 on the pretext of booking a drive.
In his complaint, Jagsir Singh, who drives an auto rickshaw and uses a mobile rental app, said he received a call regarding a ride to the airport from Panjab University on December 21. When he reached PU, he contacted the presumed customer, who said they would send a QR code to the driver. Upon scanning the code, ₹8,700 was debited from the drivers account.
Acting on the complaints, police registered separate cases at the Cyber Crime station.
