2 ex-servicemen duped of over Rs 41 lakh in cyber frauds

Two ex-servicemen were duped by online fraudsters in separate incidents reported yesterday.

The cases came to light after the victims lodged complaints with the Amritsar Rural Police. Following a preliminary probe, the cyber cell police station registered two FIRs on Saturday. The duo were cheated of more than Rs 41 lakh in phishing-related frauds.

In the first case, the victim was allegedly cheated of more than Rs 37 lakh by cyber criminals on the pretext of an investment scheme.

Gurwinder Singh, a resident of Chak Mishri Khan, told the police that he came in contact with a woman, identified as Vanita Verma, through Facebook around three months ago. She allegedly lured him with an online investment scheme promising high returns through trading and other investments.

Believing the claims, the complainant transferred money to bank accounts provided by the accused. According to the complaint, he invested a total of over Rs 37 lakh over the past couple of months. However, when he attempted to withdraw the promised profits, the accused allegedly demanded an additional Rs 18 lakh as “upgrade charges” and later stopped responding. Realising that he had been cheated, the victim approached the police and lodged a complaint.

In another incident, an ex-serviceman, identified as Jhirmal Singh of Chak Makand Khan in Gharinda, alleged that he was cheated of Rs 4.5 lakh in a digital arrest scam.

According to the complaint, an online fraudster posing as a DSP-rank official, Jarnail Singh, called him on March 2 and claimed that his son had been detained for leaking secret documents. The caller later said that the son had been found innocent during an enquiry but had been fined Rs 6.5 lakh.

The fraudster asked him to deposit the amount into a bank account at the Indian Overseas Bank branch in Siliguri, West Bengal. Frightened by the claim, the victim transferred around Rs 4.5 lakh to the account.

Later, he realised that he had fallen victim to an online fraud and approached the police.

The Cyber Crime police station has booked unknown persons under relevant sections of the Information Technology Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Police officials said efforts are underway to trace the accused and track the financial transactions involved in the frauds.