COIMBATORE: Three residents of the city lost around Rs 51 lakh to online
fraudsters. Following complaints, city cybercrime police have registered cases under the IT Act.
Police said, in the first case, G Venkataraman (65) of VH Road received a message on WhatsApp about earning money at home on January 29. Venkataraman reached out to the sender and they informed that if he invested an amount, he would receive 1500% as profits from the investment in four months.
Believing this, he invested Rs 28,49,000 in 15 installments to six bank accounts they provided in the last two months. The fraudsters failed to provide returns and instead, pressured Venkataraman to invest more money. Realising that he had been cheated, he filed a complaint with the cybercrime police.
In the second case, S Rajalakshmi (32) of Vellakinaru received a message on March 10 via Telegram about part-time job opportunities. When Rajalakshmi contacted the given number, a woman named Madhavi instructed her that they would be working with a developer to improve travel rates for a company called SR Tikka Travels.
Further, Madhavi asked her to pay an amount and fill up her details at a link to join work. Believing her, she sent Rs 14,14,451 in multiple instalments to Madhavi’s various bank accounts. After that, Rajalakshmi was unable to reach Madhavi and realised that she had been cheated, police said. Following this, she registered a complaint.
In the final case, M Vimalnathan (38) of Gopalapuram in the city received a message on WhatsApp about a part-time job in January.
While inquiring, an unidentified person informed him that they would give training about buying and selling gold on Telegram and that he could do a part-time job as well.
Vimalnathan was asked to pay money to join and following their instructions, he paid Rs 9,25,750 in multiple instalments to their bank accounts. Realising he had been cheated, he filed a complaint, police added.