Panchkula man duped of Rs 1.88 cr in cyber fraud

Tribune News Service

Panchkula, May 7

A 66-year-old resident of Panchkula was duped of Rs 1.88 crore in a cyber fraud.

In his complaint to the police, Rakesh Kumar Bansal, a resident of Sector 9, stated that he was added to a WhatsApp group after he clicked on a link while watching a video on an online platform on March 23. He said the group was named ‘customer care ICICI Ambani shares’ and had over 80 participants when he had joined. He was guided on investing money in various shares and also directed to download an application.

The fraudsters used to send details of bank accounts to receive money in the name of investment. Meanwhile, Bansal started sending them money through RTGS and net banking.

He ‘invested’ Rs 50,000 on April 9 and Rs 2.50 lakh the next day. Unaware of the fraud being committed on him, the complaint sent Rs 18 lakh on April 13, Rs 16 lakh on April 14, Rs 21 lakh on April 19. In a transaction on April 26, he even deposited Rs 80 lakh in one go.

The complainant said in return, he had initially received Rs 3,302 back in his bank account. His request to withdraw the amount was rejected. By the time he realised he was being duped, he had already transferred Rs 1.88 crore to the bank accounts as directed by fraudsters in the WhatsApp group.

A case under Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 467 (forgery of document) of the IPC has been registered at the Cybercrime police station.

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