Bookstore owner from Puttur loses ₹56 lakh in online fraud

The 57-year-old man said that recently he received a WhatsApp message informing him about a task

An owner of a bookstore in Puttur has lost ₹56 lakh in an online fraud. In a complaint to the Cyber Economic and Narcotic crime (CEN) police station, the 57-year-old man said that recently he received a WhatsApp message informing him about a task. When he enquired about the task, the sender sent a YouTube link. The victim was asked to like and subscribe to the link and send the screenshot. He finished two such tasks and earned ₹123 and ₹492 respectively.

The victim then sent money from his and his friends bank accounts to different accounts for tasks. He only got ₹52,000 in return and did not get any money later.

Having realised that he had been cheated, the victim called Cyber Portal and reported about loss of ₹56.71 lakh.

The CEN police registered his complaint for offences under Section 66 (D) of Information Technology Act and Sections 61 (2), 318 (2) and 318 (4) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

Published - October 23, 2024 07:00 am IST