In horrific online scam, Rs. 514 gas bill led this Pune man into a whopping Rs. 16 lakh bank loan fraud case
In a horrific online scam, a man who had a Rs. 514 pending gas bill was tricked and ended up losing a whopping Rs. 16 lakh. While everyone who makes digital payment transactions is aware what not to do online as well as what actually can be done, yet the guile and trickery of these online fraud perpetrators does not seem to have any limits. This became very clear in this shocking case, when a man was duped on the pretext of providing him some help. Know how the online fraudsters tricked a helpless elderly gentleman to steal his money.
The online fraud was carried out by these criminals against a 66-year-old resident of Pune when he failed to recognize that this was an intricate online fraud and ended up losing his money, the Indian Express reported.
Notably, the man had a pending gas bill of Rs. 514 and the fraudsters posed as representatives of the Maharashtra Natural Gas Limited (MNGL). They contacted the victim and said they would help resolve the pending bill issue.
The fraudster indicated that his name was Rahul Sharma and worked for MNGL and he put pressure on the victim into making an immediate payment. Considering the matter closed, the man gave it no further thought.
However, he soon realized that he had unwittingly fallen prey to a larger scam. He found out that a substantial personal loan of Rs. 16,22,310 had been approved by his bank in his name, without his knowledge or consent.
He also found out that a massive part of this loan, amounting to Rs. 7,21,845, had already been withdrawn by the criminals.
Finding that he had been duped and money stolen from him, the man had to contend with this dire situation and rushed to report the incident to the authorities. A First Information Report (FIR) was finally lodged at the Shivajinagar police station.
While Legal action has been initiated against the fraudsters under relevant the Indian Penal Code, the truth of the matter is that it has caused a huge loss and stress.
How to avoid online scams
The case highlights the crucial need for heightened vigilance against online scams and the importance of promptly alerting law enforcement agencies about such occurrences.
However, more than that, individuals must be more careful about how they interact with strangers on their mobile phones. Clearly, it should be understood that gas companies, or any other company for that matter, will not call users to demand payment from them and least of all will they try and pressure them into paying immediately.
In every such case, the best option to pick is not listen to what the stranger at the other end of the mobile phone call is saying and instead try and verify details by going to official websites, calling their call centers and verifying each detail. Making. Payment on the orders of a stranger is the last thing anyone should do.
The best option is to verify properly and go through the official channels.
