Beware of fake KBC messages promising lakhs on WhatsApp
Avneet Kaur
Jalandhar, November 27
A fake message about popular game show ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ (KBC) on TV is doing the rounds on WhatsApp. One of the residents, Manpreet Kaur of Urban Phase, told The Tribune that she and one of her colleagues had received messages on WhatsApp from +923032056034, which is reportedly a Pakistan-based number. They had also received a voice recording as well video from it declaring that their mobile number has been selected in the KBC jackpot.
They said an image they received read: “Thank you for using our services. We are glad to announce our 10th lucky draw, you have won Rs 25,00,000, and hereby on behalf of the company, we are mailing you the orginial letter with the cheque image which you can draw from your nearest bank branch after paying government taxes.”
Another message reads: “Lottery hasil karne ke liye is number ko save kare and WhatsApp par contact kare MD Vijaya Kumar 7324856578”. (To avail the lottery amount, you need to save this number and further asked to contact MD Vijaya Kumar 7324856578 on WhatsApp”.
Manpreet said when she dialled the number 923032056034 from which she received the WhatsApp messages, a man, who answered the call did not disclose his identity, said he is a resident of Pakistan and this number belongs to him and he had nothing to do with any lottery scheme.
She said: “When we asked him about the display picture he had put on his Whatsapp profile, which is an image of the KBC and also has its logo, he failed to give any explanation and hung up the call.
Meanwhile, when The Tribune team searched about the matter on Internet, it found that several such cases of fraud messages have been reported by citizens across the country.
Rajeev of the Mission Discovery Detective Services, a private detective agency in the city, said: “On an average, 10 complaints of frauds were being received by residents. Usually these comprise ATM and debit card frauds but messages like these are on the rise nowadays.”
He said as the police had failed to track these operators, residents were left with no option but to contact private agencies.
He said usually, only uneducated people become prey to such fraudsters. Moreover, no awareness is being created by the administration to aware people against the issue.
Naunihal Singh (IPS), IGP, Cyber Crime, said: “Such WhatsApp-based crimes are new on the list of cyber frauds and are similar to those Nigerian cases earlier reported with the Cyber Crime branch.”
He said though no case had been registered in this regard yet, people should be alert and not get into the trap of such fraudsters.
