Belagavi Police have asked people to act responsibly before investing money in online portals, apps or other instruments.
Superintendent of Police Bheemashankar Guled has cautioned people against falling prey to online or offline advertisements containing unrealistic promises of quick or unrealistically high returns.
Dr. Guled has asked citizens to exercise caution and due diligence during such transactions. He has urged victims of such frauds to report the transactions in the first hour of the incident. Victims can dial 1930 in the police control room or approach the nearest CEN police station for the purpose.
He gave an example of recent incidents where three people lost around ₹1.5 crore to online frauds.
A resident of Khadakalat village near Chikkodi was coaxed into investing in some online platforms that were using fake names of famous brands.
Swindlers tricked him into investing by giving him 10 times his first-day investment. He invested around ₹75 lakh and got back only around ₹2 lakh.
A businessman from Gokak was tricked by some members through an advertisement on Telegram and WhatsApp. He lost around ₹28 lakh to the false promise of stock trading.
Another man from the district was cheated of around ₹58 lakh, Dr. Guled said.
