One of the accused posed as a telecom company official and cheated them of the money through an e-wallet app
The Malabar Hill police have arrested two Uttar Pradesh-based farmers, who cheated three Mumbai residents of Rs 99,000, on the pretext of giving them huge amounts of cashback through an e-wallet app. The accused had posed as officials of a reputed telecom company.
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Victim shares bank details
According to the police, a 30-year-old woman working in a South Mumbai company, received a call on May 23 about some money that she had won. The caller, posing as an operator of a telecom firm, said that in order to claim the amount she had to register herself on an e-wallet app and then deposit some money. Excited to know of such an offer, the victim immediately downloaded the app and in the process of recharging her wallet, she shared her bank details with the accused.
Thereafter, the caller told her that she needed to give the reference of two more people in order to get the prize money. She immediately shared the details of a colleague and another friend. Following this, same amounts of money got deducted from each of their accounts. "In total, the trio lost Rs 99,000. After they filed a complaint, an FIR was registered against the caller under sections 419 and 420 of IPC and relevant sections of the IT Act," said an officer from Malabar Hill police station.
Call traced to UP
During investigation the cops found out that the call was made from Hamirpur district in Uttar Pradesh. "A team was sent to UP to trace the caller in July. After we found out that he was from Bighana village, we laid a trap and nabbed two youths on August 1. They have been identified as Shubhkaran alias Lala Brijlal Singh, 26, and Abhilash alias Gautam Karan Singh, 19," said another officer.
Speaking to mid-day, a senior cop said, "Both the accused are school dropouts. With the help of Truecaller they would randomly call up numbers and try to cheat people. In this case, they used the victim's money to settle their mobile bills and to buy a smartphone worth Rs 65,000. After being produced in court, they were remanded in police custody."
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