Currently cybercrime is on a rise in recent years and once again, cyber fraudsters have exploited the identity of the indian army to mislead an innocent individual. In a recent incident, a resident of Harlur, Bengaluru, fell victim to a scam and lost almost Rs 2 lakh while attempting to purchase a pre-owned bike from a certain website. The Bellandur police, in response to the First Information Report (FIR), detailed how Rajasekhar decided to buy a second hand bike after coming across an advertisement on July 26, where the bike was available to purchase for Rs 32,000. The alleged seller, who claimed to be an army officer named Lakshay Khanna, even shared his Aadhaar card via whatsapp to Rajasekhar, leading the victim to trust the fraudster.Meanwhile the individual posing as Lakshay provided the victim with the contact number of a person named Manjeet Singh, assuring the delivery of the bike will be done on July 28. The alleged army officer initially requested Rs 1,000 as a transportation charge from Devanahalli to Hennur. Later, the victim was asked to transfer Rs 7,200 for GST, followed by multiple transactions of Rs 7,000, Rs 200 and Rs 15,000.Using a UPI app, Rajasekhar sent money to the accused through his bank using Lakshay Khanna’s provided QR code. The fraudulent transactions further included more amounts, such as Rs 18,000, Rs 32,000, Rs 10,000, Rs 4,000, Rs 5,000, Rs 32,000 and Rs 13,000, which ended up with the total loss of Rs 1,96,002 for the victim.Soon after he understood the scam, the victim quickly approached the Bellandur police, urging them to arrest Lakshay and Manjeet Singh, and take necessary legal action against them. Meanwhile, the police registered an FIR under Sections 66(C) and 66(D) of the Information technology Act 2000, relating to fraudulent use of electronic features and cheating through personation via communication devices or computer resources. Additionally, Section 420 of the indian Penal Code (IPC) 1860 was raised, related to encouraging fraud and property delivery.
According to Money Control, a similar fraud case took place earlier this month involving a director of a private firm in Bengaluru. Just like Rajasekhar’s experience, the director was contacted by an individual claiming to be an army officer. The scammer requested a transfer of Rs 15,000 for online spoken english classes, allegedly for the officer’s two teenage daughters. To prove their authenticity, the scammer shared identification documents like Aadhaar card, army Canteen Smart card and a QR code. Sensing something wasn’t right, the director found that the names on the provided ID cards and the True Caller’s ID weren’t the same. Wisely choosing not to transfer any funds, the director immediately contacted the cybercrime helpline and saved himself from a scam.