Chirag Gupta
Patna: In a series of incidents across Patna, four people were duped of a total of 1.60 crore rupees through different fraudulent schemes. The victims, lured by promises of high returns and discounts, have lodged complaints with the cyber police station.
In one case, retired inspector Ram Vinod Sharma from Shastri Nagar was tricked into investing 1.25 crore rupees in shares through a fake demat account. The fraudster, identified as Ravi Agarwal, built trust through WhatsApp communication before gradually swindling the money. When Sharma attempted to withdraw his investment, he discovered the fraud and reported it to the authorities.
In another instance, Dinesh Kumar from Bihta fell victim to a scam in which he was promised partnership with Flipkart for digital marketing. He invested 18 lakh rupees in four installments, only to find the fraudsters had disappeared after shutting down their website and phone numbers.
Lalit Kumar Sharma from Rajiv Nagar lost 4.10 lakh rupees after being lured into a discount scheme. The fraudsters sent him a link claiming he would receive discounts on shopping. Upon opening the link, money was deducted from his account in three transactions. The police have managed to put 1.10 lakh rupees on hold, though it has yet to be recovered.
In a separate incident, Manoranjan Kumar from Khemnichak was swindled out of 13 lakh rupees while attempting to open a petrol pump. Posing as officials from BPCL, the scammers collected money in the name of various expenses before cutting off communication. A case has been filed with the police.
