In a shocking incident, a couple from Bengaluru fell for an online lottery scam. They lost as much as Rs. 1.3 crores.
In 2014, a retired agricultural scientist at the GKVK University of Agricultural Sciences found an online quiz scam and began to pay huge sums of money. The scam promised a Rs. 5 crores reward at the end.
The husband passed away in December 2014 and the wife continued to pay the online scam till mid 2017.
The city police reported this was the biggest loss for any Bengalurean with an online scam.
The deceased man’s, 52 year old wife approached the Cyber Crime Police Station. She went and filed a complaint last week and claimed her husband’s involvement in the online quiz.
The police said, “The day after the complaint was filed, the man received a call from a man claiming to be from the Shell Oil company in the UK. The fraudster told the man that he would come down to Bengaluru personally to deliver the prize money, as it is a huge sum. He also told the scientist that a fee would have to be paid as customs procedure and RBI sanctions.”
The police also reported that the scientist was transferring large sums of money to different bank accounts until his death in December 2014.
The police further added, “According to the complaint filed by the woman, he had given away his entire savings and had even pledged his life insurance policy on loans to get his lottery money.”
Once the scientist passed away, the wife got a phone call on her husband’s number. The person on the other end claimed that the scientist had won a lottery and she could claim it. The wife fell for it just as her husband did and started sending money to the crooks till May 2017.
In May, a man by the name Howard Jerry called the wife and assured her he would come to her house personally to drop off the money. The woman started getting suspicious after transferring nearly 6.5 lakhs and decided to file a complaint. The case was filed by the Cyber Crime Police station on 11th July. The case has been filed under the IT Act against unidentified people.
