Online fraud on rise in Udupi: Fraudster fakes NEFT transfer, dupes shop owner of Rs 10,000

UDUPI: Several victims are falling prey to different types of cybercrime. A franchise owner of an ice cream outlet in Udupi fell victim to an online scam after a fraudster posing as a customer tricked him into transferring money.

In a complaint, P P Gokul Raj, 31, a resident of Korangrapadi-Alevur Road, Korangrapadi village, said that at around 5:30pm, on Friday, while he was at the shop, an unidentified person called him and claimed to be placing an order worth Rs 45,000 for an event. The caller said he would make an advance payment of Rs 20,000 via NEFT.Shortly thereafter, the same person called again and said he mistakenly transferred Rs 30,000 instead and requested the complainant to return Rs 10,000 to his account.

When the complainant checked his bank account balance, there was no confirmation of the amount received, but he assumed that since it was an NEFT transfer, the amount might take some time to reflect. Trusting this, he transferred Rs 10,000 to the account provided by the accused. However, he soon realised that no amount was credited to his account. A case was registered at Udupi Town Police Station, under Section 318(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Section 66(D) of the IT Act.

Victim Loses Rs 30K in Attempt to Purchase BooksIn another case, a victim claimed to have lost about Rs 30,000 in an attempt to purchase books online. In a complaint, Mansi Madhup Singh, 33, stated that on June 22, at around 10:35 am, while browsing the Telegram app, a person operating a Telegram account under the name Jhanavi Bajaj got introduced to the complainant as a representative of a coaching company. Bajaj claimed that they would provide 25 books related to "eConceptual" and gained the complainant’s trust.

Believing this, the complainant transferred a total of Rs 15,000 in two instalments. A case was registered at Manipal Police Station, under Sections 316(2) and 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Sections 66(C) and 66(D) of the IT Act.Hotel Booking FraudA woman fell prey to a hotel booking fraud and lost a total of Rs 26,000. In a complaint, Mridula G Shet, 46, said that on Feb 12, at around 8:30 pm, through a website while trying to make a hotel booking, she received a WhatsApp call from a person identifying himself as Tushar Maurya, who provided a QR code for payment.

Trusting him, the complainant transferred Rs 20,000 at 9:00 pm. Additionally, she transferred Rs 6,000 from her son’s bank account.

As the hotel booking was not confirmed, she realised it was a cyber fraud and subsequently filed a complaint through the 1930 Cyber Crime Helpline. A case was registered at Manipal Police Station, under Sections 316(2), 318(4), 319(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Sections 66(C) and 66(D) of the Information Technology Act.