PANAJI
Amid a rise in online fraud cases and fraudsters devising new methods and techniques to dupe people, another incident has come to the fore wherein a cybercriminal impersonated Indian Army personnel and duped a service provider for a noted clinical laboratory in Margao.
The Cyber Crime Cell of Goa Police registered a First Information Report (FIR) based on a complaint filed by one Vikram Gaitonde alleging that a person, user of mobile number 9641791404 introduced himself as a personnel of the Indian Army and cheated him of Rs 14.27 lakh approx.
The complainant stated that on the pretext of sending his employees for blood tests, the unidentified man influenced the former by downloading payment applications on his phone. “The caller claimed he will transfer the money to the complainant through PayTM and Google Pay, towards the tests conducted in the laboratory. However, through the credit card option, an amount of Rs 14,27,999 was transferred into the account of the cybercriminal instead. The accused used computer resources and latest technology to cheat the service provider for the lab,” a police officer said.
An FIR is registered under sections 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating) read with 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code, and section 66-D of the Information Technology Act is registered.
Over a fortnight ago, the Cyber Crime Cell registered a case of financial fraud following a complaint by Hipolito Fernandes and Johnson Fernandes, alleging that a person contacted them on WhatApp call identifying himself as Kanyanat and convinced them to buy Italy-made Line Array Speakers. While the speakers were not delivered, the victim was duped of Rs 5.17 lakh.
