Bhubaneswar: Cyber criminals have duped a doctor of Rs 10.52 lakh in Kendrapada district by promising him to double the amount in a week.
The doctor is identified as Badal Mohanty who is presently serving at that Community Health Centre in Rajkanika. A complaint was filed at the cyber police station of the Crime Branch in Cuttack in this connection.
Reports said Mohanty got an email last month from the fraudsters that his investment will be doubled in a week if he spends money in a cryptocurrency trading system. The doctor was so interested in the offer that he immediately decided to invest a huge sum to take the benefit.
Mohanty said he invested nearly Rs 10.52 lakh and the amount was not doubled in a week. “I contacted them to refund money, but they asked me to send Rs 5 lakh more to get the refund,” the doctor said and added that he is not sure how far the probe has progressed.
The doctor said he had taken a loan from a bank to invest money with cryptocurrency and get rich dividends. Sources said Mohanty has also taken loans from other agencies for this purpose.
Police sources said cyber fraudsters are extremely tech-savvy and they are adept in diverting the money earned from fraudulent sources. They said there is a chance to retrieve money if complaints were lodged within a few hours of the incident. Delay in lodging a case will jeopardise the chances of getting back the money, the sources added.
Police officials regretted that educated persons are falling prey to the tactics of fraudsters and added that such crimes are increasing with each passing day.
Cyber offences have increased by 31 per cent during 2020 as compared to the previous year. As many as 1931 cases were registered in 2020 in Odisha. The figure was 1475 during 2019.
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