AHMEDABAD: Amdavadis are known to be tech-savvy but that has also made it easy for cyber criminals to target and defraud them of their hard-earned money.
In just one day, on Sunday, seven citizens reported that they had been conned out of Rs 13 lakh by digital scamsters. In each case, the modus operandi was different.
A Memnagar resident, who was registered on a matrimonial site, told police she was cheated by Dr Devraj Patel out of Rs 2.18 lakh. “After I registered on the site, Patel, who claimed to be from London, contacted me, saying he was interested in marrying me. He then informed me that he had sent a gift through a courier which had got stuck in India. He gave me a number to call. The person, at the other end, asked me to pay Rs 2.18 lakh as courier charges,” said the 41-year-old. When she did not receive the gift even after paying the hefty amount, she realized she had been conned and filed a complaint with Ghatlodia police.
In Viramgam resident Hetal Dave’s case, she had received a message in her uncle’s name from an international number, asking her to send money for a medical emergency. “I got the message on April 30. It mentioned an account number. I transferred Rs 98,000 and called my uncle only to find out that he had not sent me any such message,” said the 30-year-old. She later lodged a complaint with Shahibaug police.
Sagar Gajjar, a 30-year-old resident of Chandlodia, in his complaint stated that he was promised good returns if he invested in Jamok oil firm situated in Africa. However, after he made an investment of Rs 1 lakh, Amit Sharma and one another unidentified person neither gave him the amount nor the interest, Gajjar told cops.
Trupti Trivedi, a resident of Naroda, claimed that she was contacted by Anand, who claimed to be a manager with an e-commerce website. “He offered me a work-from-home job. After my first assignment, I was offered an incentive. However, when I completed my second task, I was asked to pay Rs 1.36 lakh to claim my incentive. I paid the amount but did not get anything in return,” said the 35-year-old who lodged a complaint with Naroda police.
Meanwhile, Naroda resident Bipin Patel told police that some unidentified person got access to the online ID of his account with a nationalised and private bank and transferred Rs 3.91 lakh from his account through multiple transactions.
Similarly, Suresh Asudani, a resident of Krishnanagar, alleged that some unidentified person made various online transactions totalling Rs 1.95 lakh from his credit card without his knowledge.
Kunal Sanghani, a resident of Naroda, in his complaint on Sunday has stated that he received a call from a person who identified himself as representative of a big finance firm. He lured him to invest Rs 55,000 in share market by promising good returns. When Sanghani asked for the money back, he was told to pay Rs 25,000 as GST charges and another Rs 51,000 as security deposit. However, despite paying the amount, he did not get the refund and hence lodged police complaint.
