Ludhiana resident loses ₹1.89 lakh to online fraud

The victim had trouble with a transaction through PhonePe app and had looked up its customer care number on Google, following which he got a call from an unidentified number.

Looking up customer care information for a digital wallet platform cost a city resident dear, as fraudsters stole Rs 1.89 lakh from his bank account.

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The victim, Rahul Sharma of Vishal Vihar Colony, Tibba Road, said he recharged his mobile phone SIM on November 14 using the PhonePe app.

But, he had some trouble with the transaction, and looked up the customer care number for the digital wallet app on Google.

The next day, he received a call from an unidentified number and the caller introduced himself as an executive of the app.

The caller made him input a code on the application and as he did that, he got alerts regarding withdrawal of Rs 1.89 lakh from his bank account linked with the app, Sharma alleged.

He filed a police complaint on November 17. “Following investigation, we have identified the accused as Antar Singh of Madhya Pradesh; Ambarasu Nachimuthu, Ezhilarasi Vadizhagan and S Varadarajan of Tamil Nadu; Akash Sonkar of Howrah, West Bengal; and Alijan SK of Murshidabad, West Bengal,” said ASI Sukhdeep Singh, who is investigating the case at the Tibba police station.

All accused had been booked under Sections 420 (cheating) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and a manhunt had been launched for their arrest, he added.