JAJPUR: Online fraudsters duped a 40-year-old man of Panikoili of Rs 53,000 by promising him fake lottery prize money.
The victim, Satya Ranjan Panda of Panikoili village, lodged an FIR in this connection with the local police on Sunday. In his complaint, Satya stated that two weeks back, he received a text message on his mobile phone that said he won Rs 1 lakh in a lottery.
The sender of the message asked him to deposit Rs 5,000 as a processing fee and Rs 13,990 as GST dues in a bank account to claim the lottery money. Without verifying the facts, Satya deposited Rs 18,990 in the bank account last week.
Subsequently, the victim received another message which said he had deposited the GST dues of Rs 13,990 in a wrong bank account. He was asked to deposit the same amount again in another bank account. As advised, Satya deposited the money on Tuesday.
Satya then received a link on his phone and was asked to share his bank account number and IFSC code. As soon as he provided his banking details, Rs 19,898 was debited from his account.
The victim tried to contact the number from which he had received the text message and link but it was switched off. Realising that he has been duped, he approached Panikoili police.
Based on his complaint, police registered a case and launched an investigation into it. An officer at Panikoili police station said, “We appeal to the public to be cautious while dealing with such offers from unknown sources. People should never share their bank account, Aadhaar or personal details with strangers for any reason.”