Two teachers among 4 duped of over ₹59 lakh in Prayagraj
According to a complaint by Ramchandra, a teacher from Katra, he received a call from one Sunil Dutt Dubey, who introduced himself as a deputy superintendent of police, Delhi. Dubey claimed that a case had been registered against him in New Delhi for uploading an objectionable video on social media.
Cyber fraudsters extorted ₹7.32 lakh from a teacher in Prayagraj through a ‘digital arrest’, while three others were duped of ₹51.91 lakh in separate investment and service scams, police said. FIRs were registered in this regard at the cyber crime police station on Thursday.
Cyber police station in-charge Anil Kumar Verma said all the cases were being probed and the bank accounts in which the money was deposited were under investigation.
According to a complaint by Ramchandra, a teacher from Katra, he received a call from one Sunil Dutt Dubey, who introduced himself as a deputy superintendent of police, Delhi. Dubey claimed that a case had been registered against him in New Delhi for uploading an objectionable video on social media. On January 17, Dubey threatened to arrest him, send him to jail and have him dismissed unless he paid money. Ramchandra ended up transferring ₹7.32 lakh in three instalments.
Another teacher, Rajshekhar Shukla of Alopibagh, told police that between early May and June 9, he invested ₹26.45 lakh in online trading through WhatsApp on the advice of a man who claimed to be a SEBI-certified stock broker. Later, he found the app to be fake.
Similarly, on January 17, Avnish Kumar Srivastava of Lukarganj received a WhatsApp message from a person identifying himself as Sanju, who lured him with a promise of doubling his money in a month. On June 9, a woman named Saba contacted him and persuaded him to deposit ₹2.69 lakh. After the transfer, her number was switched off.
In another case, Ehteshamuddin Siddiqui of Zameernagar, Kareli, lost ₹22.77 lakh while trying to consult a doctor. In June, he searched for a doctor’s number on Google, contacted it, and paid an advance fee. Fraudsters then siphoned off the money in 10 unauthorised transactions without sending any OTP alerts.
