Mumbai cybercriminals promise IIT-B student ‘free’ laptop, dupe him of ₹30,000 instead

Mumbai city news: A day after the student paid, he got another call, telling him to pay thousands of rupees more as insurance for the “fragile” laptop

Two cybercriminals allegedly duped a 22-year-old Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B) student of Rs30,000 by promising him free luxury items if he bought goods from an online shopping website.

The student got a message saying he would be given a fridge, laptop or television if he used a competitor’s site to buy goods worth Rs3,000. (HT File Photo)

While using another site to shop online, the student saw a message on the website saying he would be given a fridge, laptop or television if he used a competitor’s site to buy goods worth Rs3,000. On May 26, the student bought goods worth Rs3,500 from the site and chose the laptop as a gift.

That evening, a fraudster posing as an employee of that website called the student and told him he would get a laptop worth Rs50,000. He, however, said the student needed to pay thousands of rupees as tax on the laptop and gave him a PayTM account to transfer the funds into.

The day after the student paid up, he got another call, telling him to pay thousands of rupees more as insurance cover for the “fragile” laptop.

The student paid and was told that the laptop was on its way. The next day, the fraudster called him again and said the laptop had been damaged by the couriers who were meant to deliver it to him.

The fraudster added that the company would pay him Rs1 lakh in cash instead of sending him a laptop. He apologised for the inconvenience and asked the student to pay Rs15,000 as link-up charges.

However, when the student called the fraudsters on June 3, he discovered that their phone had been switched off. On realising he had been duped, he asked the local police to register a complaint against the unidentified accused.