Patna: Cyber criminals in Bihar’s capital have allegedly duped a youth of Rs 35 lakh by luring him into a fake share trading investment scheme through a group on the messaging platform Telegram, police said. Several other residents were also cheated in separate online fraud cases involving fake traffic challans, electricity meter updates and hospital appointment tokens.
According to the complaint lodged with the cyber police station, the victim from Buddha Colony was added to a Telegram group where members claimed to offer high returns through investments in a trading company. Believing the claims, the youth transferred a total of Rs 35 lakh to the fraudsters.
Police said the victim transferred the money through 10 different UPI IDs and four bank accounts linked to the scammers. When he did not receive the promised returns or his principal amount back, he began to suspect foul play and tried contacting two mobile numbers associated with the group.
During the conversation, one of the persons told him that his own money was also stuck in the investment and that he had managed to withdraw it. When the victim continued to question him, the caller allegedly threatened him, further strengthening the victim’s suspicion of fraud.
In another case, a staff member of Patna Medical College and Hospital received a message claiming to be a traffic challan notice. The message included a link which the victim clicked. Soon after, cyber fraudsters allegedly used the bank details to make online purchases worth Rs 98,000 from his account.
Police said multiple similar complaints have surfaced. A woman living in the Airport police station area reportedly lost Rs 66,000 from her bank account, while a youth from Patliputra was cheated of Rs 1.49 lakh. Another victim from Khagaria reported a loss of Rs 1.29 lakh in a cyber fraud case.
In Rajiv Nagar, a man was allegedly duped of Rs 25,000 after being asked to update his electricity meter online. In another incident, a resident from the same area called a hospital to book an appointment at an eye hospital. The person who answered the call provided another number and asked the victim to send Rs 10 through UPI as a token fee.
The caller then sent an APK file to the victim’s mobile phone and asked him to download it. After installing the file, the fraudster allegedly gained access to the victim’s device and withdrew around Rs 1 lakh from his bank account.
In a separate complaint, a woman from Patna told the cyber police that obscene images edited using her photograph were being circulated from an unknown mobile number. The morphed pictures were allegedly sent to several of her acquaintances.
Police said cases have been registered in all the incidents and investigations are underway to trace the accused and recover the stolen money.
