Cybercrime: Lko police crack two cases, ₹1 lakh recovered

Subhash Chander, ADG, Cyber Crime, said that all these cases are happening due to the lack of awareness of victims

The Lucknow police on Monday cracked two separate cases of cybercrime totaling over ₹1 lakh in the name of KYC update and payment of electricity bill.

For representation only (HT File Photo)

“On March 16, Babita Agarwal, a resident of Lucknow, filed a police complaint alleging that she was defrauded of ₹60,854 while updating her KYC. The perpetrators texted the victim to update her KYC in her bank account otherwise, her account would be closed. The text message also included a phone number, which she dialled, and the men on the other end, posing as bank employees, asked the woman to download AnyDesk application to help her, and thus, defrauded her of the money. After realising that she had been duped, she immediately lodged a police complaint with the cyber cell,” said the police in its release.

“The money was immediately frozen by contacting the bank. On Monday, the amount which was deducted, was received by the victim with the help of the cybercrime team,” said Satish Sahu, in-charge, cybercrime cell, Lucknow.

In another case, a city resident, Sishir Rastogi, was duped of ₹70,900 on March 13 after he downloaded a quick support application and allowed access to his mobile device. “The money was debited immediately after,” said the victim in his police complaint. “The man received a text message with a mobile number to pay the electricity bill or face a power cut.

The man dialled the number and followed the steps directed by the perpetrator posing to be a power department official,” read the police release. “However, on Monday, the victim received the total money in his bank account,” said police.

In this week, a 70-year-old man, Krishna Kumar Verma, a resident of Indira Nagar, was allegedly duped of ₹7.8 lakh by a cyber fraud gang posing as an Indonesian woman, in the name of sharing profits with her in helping withdraw ₹152 crore left as inheritance.

The perpetrator introduced herself as Thuma Rini Vidodo in the email and told Verma to help her in return for sharing the profit. He was told by the miscreant to contact an alleged advocate named Harlem Napitul and another local man Akash Mitra. Falling in the trap, the victim transferred about ₹7.8 lakh to Akash Mitra’s account which was withdrawn soon after the transfer.

All cases due to negligence: Cyber cell

When asked about the rise of cybercrime in the city, Subhash Chander, ADG, Cyber Crime, said that all these cases are happening due to the lack of awareness of victims. “Regular awareness drives are being held by the cyber cell but people continue to fall into traps. When asked whether there is an involvement of the banks as well, he said, “People seek helpline numbers of banks online which, many times, are fake numbers uploaded by fraudsters, and people call on them thinking it’s legitimate and thus get trapped.”