Cyber crime on rise: 3 duped of Rs 10 lakh in twin cities

Odisha has been witnessing an increase in cyber crime with three fresh cases being reported from Bhubaneswar and Cuttack on Friday. Three persons in the twin cities have allegedly been duped of around Rs 10 lakh by cyber criminals.

According to a complaint filed by a Cuttack-based girl with Cuttack Cyber Police, the victim came in contact with the cyber fraudster through Instagram and both of them became friends. Identifying himself as a Scotland-based engineer Mohammed Daniel, he promised to marry the girl. 

After winning the confidence of the girl, the fraudster claimed to have sent a costly gift to the victim. He asked the girl that the gift had reached the airport. He further asked her to deposit custom charge to receive the gift. In order to receive the gift, the victim sent Rs7.95 lakh to four accounts. When she failed to receive the gift even after depositing a big amount, she realized that she has become a victim of crime crime. 

IIC Chandrika Swain said, “The swindler had a deposit of Rs 15,000 as custom charge for receiving the gift. He had also sent the photo and video of the gift to win the victim’s confidence. The fraudster again started chatting with the victim as custom officer from different number asking her to deposit the same amount to avail the gift.”

IIC further said, “Again he asked the girl that your gift has been seized. You need to pay Rs 50,000 to release it. He kept on extracting money to the tune of Rs 7.95 lakh through different ways.”

In Bhubaneswar, two persons fell prey to cyber crime and have been duped of Rs1.82 lakh and Rs 5,000. A teacher came across a fake company named KPP Mall Dot Com which assured commission and reward on buying things from the site. 

“When my father ordered a purchase, he was ensured to get a commission worth Rs 3.5 lakh.   He was asked to pay different amounts to avail the commission amount. He slowly got into the trap unknowingly and lost Rs1.82 lakh,” said victim’s son Shakti Swarup.

In a separate incident, a girl’s gesture to help an injured dog became costly for her. 

According to the complainant, she searched for an animal care number in Google for the treatment of an ailing dog. In the process, she came in contact with cyber fraudsters who identifying themselves as service providers asked her to do registration which only cost Rs 5.  The fraudster cunningly extracted her account number and duped her of Rs 5,000.