Driver duped of ₹1.18 lakh while trying to set up ATM

A 27-year-old driver from Koparkhairane was cheated of ₹1.18 lakh after he paid the money to a website in order to set up an ATM kiosk.

A 27-year-old driver from Koparkhairane was cheated of ₹1.18 lakh after he paid the money to a website in order to set up an ATM kiosk.

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The Koparkhairane police registered a case of cheating against two unknown persons under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act on Tuesday.

The complainant, Krishnakumar Agrahari, a native of Haliya in Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh, wanted to rent out a vacant shop space in his hometown. Agrahari told the Koparkhairane police that he came to know that he could set up an ATM kiosk in the space, and it would pay well.

“While searching online, Agrahari found a website that helps people set up ATM kiosks, and he registered on it to get started. In May, he received a call from an executive of the website. He identified himself as Sundaram,” said an officer.

Sundaram told Agrahari that he would need to fill a form and e-mail it to the website, which the latter did.

Two days later, he received a call from another number and the caller, Vinayak, told him his request for the kiosk was sanctioned.

In total, till May 20, Agrahari paid ₹1.18 lakh. The accused also sent him stamp papers for the transactions.

When the accused called him again, asking him to pay ₹35,000 more, Agrahari demanded why he would need to do so.

“The accused kept trying to convince him to pay more stating that the money will be debited back in his account. When he refused to pay more, the accused said the kiosk will not be set up. However, this time the complainant realised that he had been duped,” the officer said.