KOCHI: An Aluva-based businessman lost over Rs. 1.15 lakh to an online fraudster who posed as an officer in charge of the military canteen procurement wing. It is the fourth incident reported in the Ernakulam district over the past six months in which cyber fraudsters cheated people in the guise of military officials.
The Ernakulam Rural cyber police registered a case in the incident based on a complaint by a Thottumugham native, who is running a wholesale grocery shop on partnership, on February 9. According to the police officials, the suspects in the case are based in north India.
The related incident occurred on December 10 when the victim received a WhatsApp message from an unknown person claiming to be an Army officer. “The accused person said he was the in-charge of the military canteen procurement wing and asked the victim for cattle feed urgently as their stocks ran out.
He made further phone calls and WhatsApp messages to make the complainant believe that he was indeed working for the Indian Army. He then placed an order for 40 sacks of cattle feed which cost around Rs 52,800, and told the victim that he would make immediate payment through the RTGS transaction method,” said a police officer.
The complainant got tricked by the fraudster when he received another phone call from another unknown number which claimed to be from the accounts wing of the military canteen. The caller said Rs 2.11 lakh was transferred to the complainant’s account through the RTGS and even provided the reference ID.
“When the victim told about the excess payment made, the fraudsters asked him to return the amount of Rs 1.58 lakh through IMPS bank transfer. Without realising the trap, the victim sent the money from his account in the SBI Aluva branch to an account with the Axis bank branch in Samba district of Jammu and Kashmir,” said the officer.
The fraud came to light when the complainant realised that no RTGS money transfer was made to his account. Though the victim tried to contact them on the mobile phone numbers and WhatsApp though which he was contacted, they were non-functional.
“The fraudsters take the mask of those working with the armed forces as the public has high regard for military persons. Last year, we had a case in which a person lost money after he was approached by cyber fraudsters claiming to be part of the military construction wing and ordered raw materials.
The conmen have also been approaching the common people as army officers looking for rented houses. Using digital platforms, the fraudsters receive details such as the identity and profession of the victims before approaching them and use various tricks to siphon off their money,” a police officer said.