In Chandigarh, a colonel fell victim to online friendship scams. He was duped of 118,000 rupees by fraudsters who used various services as bait. The Chandigarh Police arrested 5 scammers in a cybercrime case. Since January 2023, the Chandigarh Police has conducted raids and arrested 100 cybercriminals across various states, including Bihar, Jharkhand, Delhi NCR, West Bengal, Mumbai, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Punjab.
These alleged cybercriminals often provide online dating applications to the general public, and then they ask users to pay money. The registration is done under various service names, such as a Gold Card, and payments are made through Google Pay. After receiving the payment, no services are provided.
The case involving Colonel Ravindar Kumar was filed based on his complaint. He had been blackmailed after fraudulent online interactions with women. The fraudsters targeted him through various service names and extorted 118,000 rupees.
Ketan Bansal, the Cyber Crime Police Chief, and A. Venkatesh, Deputy Police Chief/Cyber Crime, provided information on the case. According to them, Ravindar Kumar’s complaint was registered in Chandigarh. He was contacted by an unknown person who wanted to establish a relationship and friendship with women in Chandigarh. The fraudsters demanded 2,000 rupees for registration under the name KB Telecom. After paying the registration fee, he received photos of several women. One of the women then asked for 10,200 rupees in the name of a Gold Card. For this payment, another account number was provided. Subsequently, that woman shared another woman’s mobile number, and both women began chatting on WhatsApp, extorting 118,000 rupees by using various service names.
The police conducted a raid in Baranagar, West Bengal, which led to the arrest of the accused Dattatreya Kundu, a resident of Kedarnath Bhattacharya Lane, Kedar Bhavan, Kolkata. The accused is in police custody, and the investigation is ongoing to arrest other accomplices. The police recovered one mobile phone and two ATM cards from the accused.
Another case involved a fake DBS bank credit card employee who scammed a Chandigarh resident, Madan, of 23,905 rupees. Madan lodged a complaint, stating that he received a call from a mobile number claiming to be a DBS bank credit card employee. The caller informed Madan that an insurance policy was active on his credit card (a specific credit card number was provided) and demanded a monthly fee of 1,500 rupees. Madan inquired whether he should keep the insurance policy on his credit card or cancel it. The caller asked Madan to share the OTP received on his registered mobile number. After sharing the OTP, Madan’s credit card was charged 23,905 rupees, and the caller blocked his number. In this case, the police conducted technical investigations and arrested three suspects: Rohit Sharma, Sahil, and a woman. Rohit Sharma is a resident of New Gopal Nagar Najafgarh, Delhi, and Sahil is a resident of Prem Nagar Nangloi, Delhi.