The victim received a message from the sham organisation, Dhan Kuber Mahalaxmi Yantra at Khandagiri
Bhubaneswar: Uttar Pradesh Crime Branch officials arrived here Tuesday hunting for a cyber criminal who duped a person from that state of around Rs 4 lakh.
According to the officials, the victim, identified as Ram Kumar Jaiswal of Sangrampur in Amethi district of UP, received a message on his email from the sham organisation, Dhan Kuber Mahalaxmi Yantra located at Khandagiri in Bhubaneswar. The organisation had informed Jaiswal that he was selected for a prize of several lakhs.
Lured by the huge amount, Jaiswal talked to the organisation over phone. The conman told him that he would get the prize money but he had to deposit Rs 4 lakh for various legal processes including 28 percent goods and services tax (GST).
Subsequently, Jaiswal deposited the amount as demanded by the conman in his account in four instalments. However, Jaiswal was shocked to find the conman’s phone switched off after the payment of the amount.
He later lodged a complaint with the police who started investigations and found the account holder in which he deposited the amount belongs to a branch at Rourkela in Sundargarh. The sleuths found none at the address mentioned in the account.
The UP Crime Branch officials with the help of Khandagiri police also ascertained that the address mentioned as the registered office of the sham organisation was also a fake one.
Police sources at Khandagiri police station informed Orissa POST, “We have been receiving complaints about fraud committed by the Dhan Kuber Mahalaxmi Yantra from across the country including Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh at regular intervals.”