The complainant was told to insert his SIM in the new mobile phone sent to him by the caller who claimed to be an executive of a private bank. | Photo Credit: Illustration by Satheesh Vellinezhi
A 56-year-old head of a private firm lost ₹72 lakh to cyber criminals who promised a free credit card from a leading private bank. The man lost ₹72 lakh after inserting his SIM card into a new mobile phone that he got from the bank as a gift.
Based on his complaint, the South Division Cyber Crime police have registered a case under the IT Act, 2000, and also for impersonation and cheating.
The complaint is Basavaraju G.E., a resident of Bikasipura in south Bengaluru. According to his complaint, Basavaraju received a call from a person claiming to be an executive of a leading private bank and offering a free lifetime credit card based on his bank transactions and CIBIL score.
Initially, Basavaraju agreed to take up the offer, but later refused when the caller sought personal details and mobile phone authentication. However the caller persuaded him by offering a complimentary mobile phone and instructed him to insert his SIM card into the new phone for authentication.
A few hours later, Basavaraju received a brand new phone through a courier. He then followed the instruction of the caller, and inserted his SIM card in the new phone.
Within minutes, ₹66,10,421 was debited from his savings bank account, along with ₹5,96,044 from his credit card, totalling ₹72 Lakh.
Basavaraju tried to call the executive, but the number was out of reach.
Realising that he had been cheated, he called the cyber crime helpline 1930, and reported the matter before rushing to the South Division Cyber Crime police station where he filed a detailed complaint.
Man lost ₹52.6 lakh in bid to claim prize from scratch card
In another incident, a 50-year-old businessman from Mahalakshmipuram lost ₹52.6 lakh to cyber criminals in a bid to get a cash reward of ₹1.04 crore that he was offered by an unknown person.
The victim, Satish Shetty, paid the amount in instalments on different dates from March 11 to April 16 until he realised that he had been cheated and approached the North Division Cyber Crime police.
According to the complaint, Mr. Shetty received a message that he had won a cash prize from a private firm through a scratch card. He was asked to claim the money.
When Mr. Shetty contacted the person, he was advised to pay 4% as TDS to claim the prize. As soon as the money was transferred online, Mr. Shetty received another message asking him to pay GST, CGST and International GST total amounting to ₹25 lakh.
Initially Mr. Shetty was reluctant about paying such a big amount to claim the cash prize, but eventually transferred the money. Then, he get a message to pay another ₹26 lakh towards various taxes and dues, failing which the cash prize will be sent for donation and a criminal case would be initiated against him. Scared of legal problems, Mr. Shetty transferred the money.
At that point, he realised that he had been duped.
The cyber crime police advise people not to entertain any messages or calls where people offer freebies. They advise people not to act in haste and delay the process of transferring money either by putting the call on hold, or contacting their relatives, friends, or the police on 112, to get advice.
“There is no free meal. People are waiting to cheat gullible people if they fall prey to such tactics,” a police officer said.
