Lko businessman falls into fake astrologer’s trap, loses ₹65 lakh
The victim told the police that he was depressed after his company suffered losses in August 2023. His troubles were compounded when an employee, who had access to all the firm’s transactions and records, also left the company.
A Lucknow-based businessman fell into the trap of a cyber conman posing as an astrologer who duped him of nearly ₹65 lakh by promising to rid him of “evil spirits” through exorcism, according to an FIR lodged by the victim.
“Hemant Kumar Rai, 27, a resident of South City in Lucknow who suffered business losses, kept sending money to the so-called “baba” for almost a year in the belief that all his problems would be fixed. Rai found the “baba’s” phone number through an Internet search.
“On the complaint by the businessman, an FIR was registered under Section 66 of the Information Technology ACT, 2008,” said Raveena Tyagi, DCP (central).
The victim told the police that he was depressed after his company suffered losses in August 2023. His troubles were compounded when an employee, who had access to all the firm’s transactions and records, also left the company.
“People told me that because of the employee you are suffering losses. Hence, I wanted to know my fate from astrologers, who told the same thing. It was then I started looking for a good astrologer and got to know about Priya Baba Astrologer on the Internet,” Rai said in the FIR.
Rai said he initially sent ₹11,000 to the “baba’s” bank account in Rajasthan on August 11, 2023. After that, he sent ₹39,000 on August 18, 2023.
The fraud did not stop there as the “baba” told Rai his problems were big and more money will have to be sent from time to time for worship to end his woes.
“Convinced by his words, I kept sending money continuously. It seemed that he had taken me under his control. Not only this, he started scaring the family by sending photos of tantra mantra puja and saying that there is a shadow of black magic on them. On August 15, 2023, he also took ₹20 lakh in the name of worship at a crematorium,” Rai said in the FIR.
“After realizing the fraud, I went to the bank and got the digital baba’s account frozen, but even after that, I did not get any of my money back. Tired of this, I complained to the cyber police station,” the FIR read.
