Sector 42, Chandigarh resident loses Rs 2 lakh in online fraud

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 14

A Sector 42 resident fell prey to an online fraud and lost Rs2 lakh on the pretext of paying an instalment of his insurance policy in advance.

Victim AD Rajput reported that he had purchased Reliance Nippon Life Insurance for Rs2 lakh in December last year with a term of 12 years. The next premium for the insurance was supposed to be paid in December this year.

He said last month, he received an email mentioning that due to Covid, customers were not able to pay their premium following which he was advised to pay the second instalment of Rs2 lakh in advance, which would be refunded to him in a week along with interest.

“I also received a call from a person, Puneet Arora, who introduced himself as an agent of the insurance company. He also asked me to pay the second instalment in advance following which I transferred the money in the bank account provided by him,” the complainant added.

Later, on August 28, he received another email, asking him to deposit the third instalment of Rs2 lakh following which he would get a refund of Rs8.25 lakh within 72 hours.

He got suspicious and consulted the insurance ombudsman, who advised him to check with the insurance company. He went to the office of the insurance company and found that he had been duped as the money was not credited to his insurance policy.

The insurance company clarified that they did not send such emails.

The victim submitted his complaint to the police, which is being investigated by the cyber crime investigation cell. Several cases of online fraud have been reported from the city in the recent past.

How he was tricked

• The victim, AD Rajput, said last month, he received an email mentioning that due to Covid, customers were not able to pay their premium following which he was advised to pay the second instalment of Rs2 lakh in advance, which would be refunded to him in a week along with interest.
• “I also received a call from a person, Puneet Arora, who introduced himself as an agent of the insurance company. He also asked me to pay the second instalment in advance following which I transferred the money in the bank account provided by him,” he said.

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