Two in Ponda duped of Rs 4.9L by 10 scammers

Ponda: At least ten interstate cyber fraudsters allegedly cheated two Ponda residents of a total Rs 4.9 lakh in separate incidents reported in the first week of Feb. Both victims approached the cyber cell, which registered their FIRs and later transferred the cases to the Ponda police.In the first case, Anil Kumar Singh, who runs a transport company in Santacruz, Ponda, was allegedly cheated of Rs 2.8 lakh on the pretext of arranging trucks to transport consignments from Mangaluru to Chhattisgarh. Around eight fraudsters, posing as truck drivers, contacted him and agreed to deliver the goods after seeking advance payments. Singh transferred the money through UPI to their mobile numbers, but no one arrived to collect or transport the consignments.In another case, Darsh Shinkre of Shantinagar, Ponda, was allegedly duped of Rs 2.1 lakh by fraudsters promising him a better job in a finance company in Goa. Police registered both cases under section 319(2) of BNS, 2023.