City-based doctor loses Rs 3.42 crore in online fraud

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In the biggest-ever cyber fraud registered in the city, a 53-year-old doctor residing at Kochulloor was cheated of Rs 3.42cr by a ten-member gang in a well-orchestrated fraud this week.
The doctor was contacted by a person posing as a member of a share trading research team of a leading firm explaining about the potential of online trading.Following this, the doctor was asked to join a WhatsApp group where he found several people who became billionaires through online trading. However, all the profiles in the group were fake and he was too late to realize it.
The accused won his trust by giving attractive profit for small investments in the beginning and it compelled him to invest more. The victim was asked to download a mobile application which helped the accused access all his personal details. Using the credentials, the accused snatched the amount from his bank account.
"We registered a case under section 66 (D) of the Information Technology Act and IPC Sections 419 for cheating by personation and 420 for cheating. We have been collecting all the available details from the victim and measures have been taken to block the accounts to which the snatched money was transferred," said cyber police.
The probe team has urged the public to be careful towards such online frauds.
In April this year, a woman doctor from Mannanthala was cheated Rs 2.56cr in a similar way. On Nov 4 last year, Rs 2.25cr was snatched from a city-based chartered accountant by threatening him of being trapped in a fake MDMA case. The accused made him believe that a courier sent from his address had MDMA and fake passports and that the CBI has registered a case on it. Impersonating as CBI officials, the accused snatched Rs 2.25cr from his account.
A Pangapara-based 49-year-old man lost Rs 1.44cr a few days back, Rs 1.62cr was cheated from a 62-year-old man and the list of people who lost money through online fraud continues.