A woman, who posted an advertisement renting out her house on a property related website, lost Rs 5.8 lakh to a fraudster.
In her complaint to the National cybercrime reporting portal (NCRP), S Kalaiselvi (46) of Bodipalayam road near Madukkarai, stated that she posted an advertisement in January. On January 22, a person contacted Kalaiselvi's husband Selvaraj, stating that he was a CISF officer and that he was keen to move in as a tenant after seeing photographs of the house.
Selvaraj told him to pay in advance six months' rent and the caller sent a link stating that it was a money transfer link. When he clicked the link and filled in the details of his bank account, Selvaraj lost Rs 99,500. Shocked, Kalaiselvi contacted the person over the phone and told him what happened. The caller replied that it might have been caused due to a technical fault and sent another link stating that he would set right the mistake.
"The person told the couple to enter the OTP after installing the app sent through the link, and promised them to transfer the advance and also return what was deduced earlier. When the couple did as he told them, they lost another Rs 4.99 lakh from Selvaraj's bank account in several instalments. After that the person could not be contacted," police said.
Kalaiselvi lodged a complaint with the National cybercrime reporting portal (NCRP) and it was forwarded to Coimbatore district (Rural) cybercrime police. A case under sections 420 IPC and 66 D of the IT Act, was registered. Meanwhile, police cautioned the public against revealing bank credentials like OTP and PIN to anyone.
In another case, R Senthilkumar (45) an employee in a private firm in Salaivembu near Karamadai lost Rs 1.6 lakh in a loan trap. Police said he was asked to offer a loan of Rs 8.5 lakh over the phone. While inquiring, he was asked to pay Rs 1.6 lakh in the name of fees for processing, registration, insurance and other hidden services. He was assured to get back the amount along with the total loan amount. But after swindling the amount, the unknown caller went absconding. NCRP registered the case and referred it to Coimbatore District cyber crime police.