Palghar: Man loses Rs 4.5 lakh to cyber fraudsters in Nalasopara

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A 24-year-old man from Maharashtra's Palghar district lost Rs 4.5 lakh to cyber fraudsters after he ran a Google search for the grievance handling helpline of a bank but ended up interacting with a fake website, an official told news agency PTI on Wednesday.

The complainant, a resident of Nalasopara on the outskirts of Mumbai, wanted statements of his account with a nationalised bank in connection with his admission to a UK university for a management course, reported PTI.

He visited the bank in August but nobody apparently responded to him immediately. Upset by the experience, the complainant began looking online to lodge a complaint against the bank.

The official told PTI that the man clicked on one of the Google search results thinking it was the right portal but ended up interacting with a fake website.

When the complainant called the number shown on the website, the person on the other side took all his debit card details under the pretext of resolving his grievance. The fraudsters then Rs 4.5 lakh from his bank account in two transactions, the official told PTI.

Based on his complaint, the police on Tuesday registered a case under section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code but did not elaborate on why the man approached them late, reported PTI.

Meanwhile, a 33-year-old man from Navi Mumbai has become the latest victim of the "online task" fraud and lost more than Rs 43 lakh to fraudsters who lured him under the pretext of earning big returns, police told PTI on Monday.

The fraudsters contacted the man, a resident of Koparkhairane area, on Whatsapp and told him that he could earn good money if he completed a part-time job involving online tasks, an official told PTI.

"Hoping to earn good returns, the victim ended up paying Rs 43.45 lakh in different bank accounts but never received any remuneration," he said quoting the First Information Report, reported PTI.

A case was registered under section 420 (Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). No arrest has been made so far, reported PTI.

The "online task fraud" typically involves trapping victims by making them perform tasks like liking videos etc. and making small payments initially to win their trust. The victims were later lured to invest money to earn big returns.

(With inputs from PTI)