BELAGAVI: Two engineers and a businessman have fallen prey to cyber fraudsters in a span of a month and together, they have lost about Rs 1.53 crore. The victims are residents of Gokak and Chikkodi.
Shivaraj, an engineer from Khadaklath village in Chikkodi taluk, lost Rs 75.20 lakh after seeing a reel on Facebook promising 10 per cent returns in a day through investment in the share markets. The fraudsters solicited investments in Ben Capital and DNP Capital through a WhatsApp group.
After creating a profile ID, Shivaraj invested Rs 10,000 on the first day and got Rs 1 lakh in return the same day. After withdrawing the money, he discussed the issue with family members and, after their approval, he invested Rs 5 lakh, Rs 10 lakh, etc., totalling Rs 75.20 lakh, but got back only Rs 1.97 lakh. He later approached the CEN police.
Gokak businessman Baburao, who was looking for some stock traders on Telegram, came across some fraudsters who took his WhatsApp number and added him to a group. On their suggestion, he also created a profile on the website of KKRMF and lost 27.50 lakh to the fraudsters who promised huge returns throug stock trading.
Similarly, Chidanand, a programme associate with a wellknown company, lost 58.34 lakh to cyber fraudsters who first contacted him through WhatsApp and later asked him to share an Instagram screenshot to register.
Belagavi Superintendent of Police Bheemashankar Guled the three victims were duped with the lure of huge earnings. “No company can give huge returns in a day and people should realise this. It is difficult to trace cyber criminals and citizens should be on their guard. Victims should immediately call the control room on 1930. If they approach us after many days, it becomes difficult to recover the money”.
“If the victims act quickly and lodge a complaint, the accounts of the fraudsters can be frozen, or else they will withdraw the money and slip without a trace. People should not fall prey to misleading ads on social media”, he added.