New Delhi [India], June 20 : In a shocking incident, an 80-year-old bookstore owner in Delhi's Connaught Place was duped of over Rs 15 lakh by a cyber-fraudster impersonating an official of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), police said on Friday.
The incident took place on June 16 when the victim received a WhatsApp call from an individual claiming to be an NDMC official. The caller claimed that the electricity bill for the shop had not been paid for a long time and warned that the electricity connection would be cut within 30 minutes unless payment was made immediately.
According to the police, the caller sent the victim a link for an invoice of Rs 12 and instructed him to clear the dues urgently. In a state of panic, the victim followed the instructions and entered his bank credit card details.
Soon after submitting the information, the victim began receiving multiple transaction alerts indicating unauthorized debits from his account, amounting to approximately Rs 15.45 lakh.
Realizing he had been defrauded, the victim contacted his bank to freeze his credit card and account, police said.
A complaint has been registered at Connaught Place police station on June 17 in this matter.
Further investigation into the matter is underway.
Earlier, on June 16, Delhi Police uncovered a cyber-extortion racket and arrested two persons, including the alleged mastermind, in a case involving blackmail through nude video calls.
The investigation began after a complaint was filed by Ankit Kumar Kain, a resident of Shahdara, who fell victim to the scam, said the police.According to the police, Kain met a woman named Nandini on the dating app QuakQuak.
After exchanging WhatsApp numbers, she initiated a video call in a nude condition while recording Kain's face.She later blackmailed him, threatening to leak the video unless he paid up. Fearing social humiliation, Kain transferred Rs 35,000 to a Bandhan Bank account provided by the blackmailer.
When she demanded more money, he filed a complaint on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP), said the police.Probing the transaction, police traced the money to a Bandhan Bank account opened in the name of Mangal Singh, a South Delhi resident, but operated by Shyam Singh from Rajasthan. Investigations revealed that Shyam Singh opened the account online using Mangal's details.
The police said that the registered mobile number and email ID were linked to Shyam. Four mobile handsets used in the scam were recovered from Shyam's possession. The ATM card and SIM linked to the account were handed over to another accused, Aamir, who remains at large.