VIRUDHUNAGAR: The District Cyber Cell police have appealed to the public to beware of fraudsters who lure people by offering attractive prizes, as they recently received several complaints of people getting duped in this manner. Sources said Arun Kumar (64), who runs a printing business from Sivakasi, lost Rs 45,98,850 to a fraudster after the latter sought this amount as charges for sending him a Land Cruiser Prado car that he claimed to have won in a lottery.
"The fraudster sent a message to Arun Kumar claiming that he had won a lottery of Rs 25,00,000. When Arun Kumar inquired about how he could claim the prize amount, he was asked to pay a registration fee of Rs 12,500 at first, and later a customs duty of Rs 2,70,000 claiming that the prize amount was in dollars. Kumar was further informed that he had won a Land Cruiser Prado car too in the lottery, and in order to get it, he had to pay Rs 8,70,000 for registration and other charges. Despite making a payment of Rs 45,98,850 in total, Kumar was again asked to pay more. After his brother intervened and told him that it was a scam, Kumar registered a police complaint.
In another incident, K Balamurugan (40) of Watrap, lost `45,300 to a fraudster, who collected his contact details to enrol him in a lucky draw that was offering a television as the prize. Following this, he received a call stating he had won the TV and in order to claim the prize, he had to pay Rs 5,000. "Despite paying a total of Rs 45,300, which exceeded the actual price of the television, the fraudster asked Balamurugan to pay Rs 25,000 more to claim the prize. Balamurugan then registered a complaint with the cyber cell," officials said.
Quoting the unfortunate incidents, the officials added that the fraudsters have been preying on the innocence of common people. "One criminal chose his victims by giving scratch cards to a group of people while selling home appliances on a combo offer. While interacting with his customers, he observed the behaviour of the group to understand who can be cheated easily.
Then he distributed two types of scratch cards with negligible differences -- the first type mentioning a definite amount to be paid by the receiver in return for gifts and the second type stating better luck next time. He would then contact those who received the first type of scratch card and sought a service charge for sending the gifts.
After they send him the money, they won't be able to contact him again. I urge the public to be careful and not be duped by this kind of fake prize," he said. The public can dial the helpline number 1930 for lodging cyber complaints.