Online Fraud – Beware!

New Delhi: A south Delhi resident was duped of Rs 14 lakh when she fell for a fake lottery offer. Sonia (name-changed) had received an SMS on New Year’s Eve, which said she had won 1 million. A series of emails and phone calls from Delhi, Mumbai and the UK followed. She readily gave all the details she was asked for. Then she was asked to pay Rs 32,000 as fist installment as clearance fee. That was just the beginning. She realized she had been duped after depositing around Rs. 14 lakh in different accounts across the country.

Sonia had returned home last year after working in the UAE with as a PR executive with a multinational company. She spent all her lifesavings, FDs andeven her parents’ money in this. And when she fell shortof money, she took a bank loan to pay the fraudsters. But she realized she had been duped only after she approached the Reserve Bank of India. She sought help from the crime branch. The Economic Offences Wing of the crime branch has registered a case of fraud under Section 420 of the IPC.

A senior cop said on condition of anonymity, “People should understand that they cannot win a lottery of one million pounds sitting in Delhi or any other city for that matter. These mails and messages should be ignored or reported to us. No one should divulge any personal details to strangers who use the internet to cheat people.” 

Gurgaon: Unidentified persons have been sending fake recruitment emails in the name of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL), the auto major clarified on Friday. The fraudsters promise jobs in a new factory of the car manufacturing company with a salary ranging from Rs 62,000 to Rs 2 lakh. The fake mail asks the candidate to deposit Rs 14,350 as security money before appearing for the ‘interview’. TOI is in possession of one such fake mail which was sent to a job seeker. The mail claims that the interviews for these jobs would be held on Saturday at the company’s Delhi office.

The mail had mentioned March 9 as the last date for depositing the security amount in the bank accounts. To sound convincing, the fraudsters claimed in their mail while Rs 14,000 is refundable, Rs 350 would be deducted as transaction fee levied by the bank. The mail had claimed that the company selected 62 candidates. It said the interview would be held at MSIL’s corporate office in Delhi on March 10. It also said the salary would be in the range of Rs 62,000 and Rs 2lakh per month. When the reporter made a call on a telephone number mentioned in the mail +91-1165035326, Santosh Kumar who received the phone disconnected the phone after asking whether the caller had submitted his resume earlier.

An MSIL spokesperson said the company has not invited any such applications. “The very fact that the mail demands money makes it dubious. We have lodged police complaints on earlier occasions as an when we have come to know of such frauds,” said the official. He said people should cross check such information on the company’s website first.