Two women lose Rs. 9.50 lakh to online tricksters

Two women from Madurai district lost around Rs. 9.50 lakh as tricksters made them pay money in several instalments by inducing their desire in the guise of high valuable gift and quick money making through online investment.

Madurai District Cyber Crime police have registered two cases for cheating and under the provisions of Information Technology Amendment Act 2008.

In the the first complaint, a 32-year-old woman was befriended by a stranger through WhatsApp. After chatting for some days, the stranger had claimed about doing lot of social service through a trust and then told her that a parcel has been sent to her as a gift.

Later, she got a photograph of the materials inside the parcel which included a gold chain, some dress.

Subsequently, the woman got a call from another person who claimed himself to be an official from the Customs Department.

Stating that she had to pay Customs duty to receive the parcel, she was asked to pay money. Later, she was asked to pay money to get the US dollars inside the parcel for converting it into Indian currency.

The woman realised that she was duped only after ending up paying Rs. 4.11 lakh.

In the second case, the 23-year-old woman, who was searching for online jobs received a message about job opportunity by telegram.

The trickster sent her a link and made her create a user identity and password through which, she was told, that she would get her commission for the job done.

The woman was made to invest money in small denominations for which she received double the money in her mobile wallet.

Encouraged by the easy money, the woman invested as much as Rs. 5.39 lakh in the last few days.

When she tried to withdraw the money in her e-wallet, she could not do it. "The tricksters had blocked it and made it appear as if it were a technical glitch," a police officer said.

If people call 1930, helpline for cyber crime and lodge complaints within 24 hours on losing money through online transaction, the possibility of restoring it to the owner is high, the officer said.