Father-son duped of Rs 19 lakh
Hyderabad: 'Congratulations! Your mobile number has won 7,50,000 pounds in the Coca Cola world promotion event'- was the SMS received by Amit Kumar, a second-year engineering student. Enticed by the promise of easy money, he informed about it to his father, Senapathi, who recently retired from the defence services.
The duo in their greed to receive the prize money of 7,50,000 pounds deposited Rs 19 lakh in a bank account. It was only after they deposited the money, they realised they had been duped.
The culprits were arrested on Monday by Cyberabad police in Mumbai, out of which five are Nigerians. Police, however, said they could recover only Rs 57,000 of the stolen cash.
Police said Amit Kumar had received an SMS on February 28 which asked him to contact Sir Diplomat Brain Smith on an e-mail address to claim the prize money.
He got enticed and informed his father Senapathi about the prize money. 'Initially they were asked to pay Rs 15,000 as customs fee. Later, the accused asked them to pay Rs 18.68 lakh for claiming the prize money. In hope of bagging the huge amount, Senapathi deposited Rs 18.68 lakh in an ICICI bank account as directed by the accused,' said an official of the Cyber Crime Cell.
The online fraudsters contacted the victims yet again by informing that another Rs 5 lakh should be transferred for payment of the prize money. At this point they realised they were being duped.
News Posted: 26 April, 2011
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