Elderly man duped of Rs 44.8 lakh by cyber fraudsters in Hyderabad

The complainant received a message on his WhatsApp stating that loans would be sanctioned at a very low interest rate within a couple of hours, subject to eligibility

Hyderabad: A 59-year-old private employee from Secunderabad was duped to the tune of Rs 44.80 lakh by cyber fraudsters who promised to provide a loan at lower interest rate.

The complainant received a message on his WhatsApp stating that loans would be sanctioned at a very low interest rate within a couple of hours, subject to eligibility.

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He contacted the person whose details was given and the individual informed the victim that his CIBIL score was low to qualify for the loan and sent a UPI scanner requesting an initial payment amount, claiming it would be refundable along with the loan amount.

“Trusting this, the victim made the payment. Subsequently, the fraudster asked the victim for his bank details and a cheque leaf. The fraudsters claimed to approve the loan and continued to collect money. Since the victim did not have enough funds in his account, he borrowed money from friends and family to make the payments,” said a cybercrime official.

The scammers later confirmed that the total amount had been received and sent cropped screenshots as proof. They then messaged the victim on WhatsApp stating that the “Head Office” would soon contact him to release the loan.

By this time, the victim had exhausted his financial resources and had lost a total of Rs 44.8 lakh to the scammers through 25 online UPI transactions.

Based on a complaint, the Cybercrime Police booked a case and took up investigation.