Bengaluru: Cyber crimes can hit unsuspecting citizens in many forms, many a time beyond their imagination.
In a shocking case of cyber fraud, over 150 people were duped of more than Rs 1 crore by scamsters using the name of US President Donald Trump.
Victims across the state – from Bengaluru, Tamakuru, Mangaluru and Haveri – were lured by an app named after Donald Trump, the Deccan Herald reported.
An AI-generated video of Trump was circulated to earn people’s confidence and make the scam look legitimate.
Quick and rich rewards were promised by scamsters in return for investments.
“Victims who fell into the fraudsters’ trap were promised rich rewards for their investment, besides opportunities to work from home. In Haveri alone, more than 15 such people have been swindled,” Haveri Cybercrime Economics and Narcotics (CEN) inspector Shivashankar R Ganachari told Deccan Herald.
‘Trump Hotel Rental’, an app used in the scam, promised anyone who invested that the money will be doubled once the app was installed.
“We were asked to pay Rs 1,500 to set up our accounts, and asked to write profiles of companies. Completion of each such task was accompanied by an increase in the money we had supposedly earned on our dashboard. In reality, I lost more than Rs 1 lakh,” one of the victims said.
Many of the victims have approached police, seeking help to recover their lost money.
Complaints have been registered in several police stations across Karnataka against the cybercriminals.
