Cyber Fraud Reaches New High In Odisha, Businessman Duped Of Rs 2.35 Crore

Bhubaneswar: Despite repeated warning by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Odisha Police, a businessman of Keonjhar district fell victim to cyber frauds and was duped of a whopping Rs 2.35 crore.

According to the complaint filed by 58-year-old businessman Pramod Kumar Rout from Joda, one AK Walia, who introduced himself as a senior officer of the Ministry of Finance (fund releasing division) posted in Hyderabad, called up Rout in October 2019.

Walia told over phone that Rout was selected to receive Rs 3 crore from the Prime Minister National Relief Fund towards his life insurance policy made in March 2012. He also sent a letter issued by Suresh Mathur of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA), asking Rout to pay lakhs of rupees as dues.

Rout ignored the letter and kept quiet about it. After some days, he was flooded with calls from different numbers and men, who introduced themselves as officials of the finance ministry and the IRDA. They warned Rout of freezing his accounts, if he did not pay the dues.

“Out of fear, Rout agreed to pay the money. Without verifying the credentials of the unknown callers, Rout transferred Rs 2.35 crore from November 19, 2019 to February 4, 2021. Last year, the fraudsters sent two demand drafts worth Rs 1.98 crore to Rout. But they turned out to be fake,” TOI quoted an EOW official as saying.

After waiting for several months, when Rout did not get the promised money, he lodged a complaint with details of payment of Rs 2.35 crore to the frauds with the EOW on February 28.

It may be noted that 10 cyber frauds were reported daily on an average in January in Bhubaneswar, while the residents of the city lost over Rs 1.39 crore to the fraudsters in February.