RAMANATHAPURAM
A 20-year-old diploma holder, hailing from Emaneswaram near Paramakudi, has become the latest victim of online fraud as he lost ₹27.59 lakh in a bid to “get” prize money of 6.50 lakh US dollars.
When Sukanya visited her parents’ house at Emaneswaram for delivery in October last year, she never realised that an SMS to her mobile phone, congratulating her for “winning” 6.50 lakh US dollars in a lottery, would land her brother K. Ajith in deep trouble.
While Ms. Sukanya ignored the message, Mr. Ajith pursued the leads only to get trapped by the fraudsters, who were identified by District Crime Branch (DCB) police as Soniya Payal and Deepak, both from New Delhi. But the duo could not be traced.
N. Santhi, Inspector, DCB, said the fraud came to light on Wednesday when Mr. Ajith lodged a complaint after suspecting that he was being taken for a ride by the duo.
The victim, an air-condition mechanic, had been in touch with the fraudsters for almost nine months, transferring money to six to seven bank accounts in several transactions, through the Pramakudi branch of State Bank of India, she said.
The fraudsters made Mr. Ajith believe that he was close to getting the prize money and he kept transferring money to the accounts referred by them after pledging the jewels of his mother and sister. Every time he transferred some money, there was “some progress”.
At one stage, he got a pleasant surprise when the fraudsters sent him an iphone and he never grew suspicious of their activity. When they showed him an account “opened in his name in Reserve Bank of India”, he was elated.
The fraudsters then “credited” ₹4 crore in his account. The duo, who spoke in Tamil and English, however, made him cough up some more money to withdraw the “prize money”. When he ended up transferring ₹27,59,235 and finding that the booty was still not in sight, he grew suspicious.
Ms. Santhi said the police found that all the email IDs and phone numbers used by the duo were fake. A team had been formed to check the transactions and trace the fraudsters. The police would also check whether any bank staff acted hand in glove with the fraudsters.
In March, a schoolteacher and her husband, a railway employee, fell victim to online fraudsters, who cheated them to the tune of ₹20 lakh stating that they had won ₹90 lakh in a lottery run by a Finnish multinational communication and technology company.
