JEYPORE: Cybercriminals have siphoned off Rs 8.97 lakh from the account of a 47-year-old cancer patient of Jeypore by using a malicious link.
Sadananda Samantaray, a teacher of Turudiput village under Jeypore block, had saved the amount for his cancer treatment. On Sunday evening, he received a WhatsApp message asking him to download an APK file for RTO challan. An unsuspecting Sadananda clicked on the link and reportedly lost all the money from his account in HDFC bank’s Tankua branch.
On Monday, he sent a family member to withdraw money from the bank. To Sadananda’s shock, he was informed that his savings account had zero balance. He promptly alerted the bank officials about the fraud and was told that cybercrooks had withdrawn Rs 8.97 lakh from his account.
Family member Santosh Samantaray said, “Sadananda had saved the money for his cancer surgery which was scheduled for Wednesday. However, the entire amount has been taken away by cybercriminals. We have informed the Koraput Cyber police station about the fraud.”
Apart from Sadananda, cybercriminals also duped a tailor of Tankua village under Jeypore Sadar police limits of Rs 1.83 lakh by using a similar modus operandi on Sunday.
K Venkatesh, the victim, came to know about the fraud on Monday after he visited the HDFC bank’s Tankua branch and was informed that Rs 1.83 lakh was transferred from his account. Venkatesh said he too had clicked on a link on WhatsApp asking him to download an APK file for RTO challan.
IIC of Koraput Cyber police station Bhabani Pradhan said two separate cases have been registered on basis of the complaints lodged by the victims. An investigation has been launched and efforts are underway to trace the cybercriminals involved in the fraud. Pradhan advised people not to open any link without proper verification.