Mumbai student loses Rs 90,000 to cyber fraudsters; case filed

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A 22-year-old woman lost Rs 90,000 from her father's pension after falling victim to a cyber fraudster who offered her a work-from-home job, police said on Monday.

According to the complaint, the Mumbai student received a call from an unknown number on Saturday. The caller offered her a job with a stationery company in Mumbai. The caller then asked her to transfer money for registration fees, health insurance, a job contract, and other requirements. She paid Rs 90,000 from her father's pension, PTI reported.

According to the report, the Mumbai student realised she had been scammed when she looked up online reviews of the company and discovered it was fake. The Santacruz police have registered a case under the relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and an investigation is underway.

In a separate incident, a jewellery shop owner in Malad was duped over Rs 5 lakh in a sophisticated cyber fraud. The incident occurred on August 16 when two men, posing as customers, entered the shop and purchased gold bars and jewellery worth over Rs 5 lakh. Payment was made via RTGS, and the shopkeeper received a confirmation message on his phone, stated a Mid-day report.

However, later that evening, the shop owner received a message from his bank stating that his account had been frozen. Alarmed, he visited the bank the next day and discovered that the funds transferred to his account were part of a cyber fraud case in Telangana, the report added.

According to the report, the fraudulent funds had been transferred from the account of a man named Sai Kiran, who had filed a case with the Telangana Cyber Police. Following this, the bank froze the jeweller's account.

Realising he had been scammed, the shop owner approached the Malad police station and complained about the two men. The police have registered a case under various sections of the BNS and are investigating. CCTV footage from the shop and surrounding areas is being reviewed to trace the suspects. Attempts to contact the owner of the jewellery shop were unsuccessful, the report further stated.