Lucknow — Cyber fraudsters have duped the wife of a local businessman of ₹50.78 lakh by promising her a dealership of a state-run petrol pump, police officials said on Monday.
The victim, Vijayashree Rawat, a resident of Mahanagar in Lucknow, filed a complaint with the city’s cybercrime police station after realizing she had been tricked into transferring the money.
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According to her statement, the ordeal began on August 6, when she came across a social media advertisement inviting applications for the dealership of Indian Oil petrol pumps. Believing the offer to be genuine, she applied using her husband’s email address.
The next day, she received a call from a person identifying himself as an Indian Oil sales representative, who demanded documents over WhatsApp and soon followed up with instructions for payments. The fraudsters, posing as company officials, claimed that the dealership required registration fees, licenses, security deposits, and even a land survey.
In a matter of days, Rawat transferred over ₹50.78 lakh. “They kept sending calls and emails, even arranging fake approval letters,” she told investigators. On August 8, she received multiple calls from a man who introduced himself as Assistant Manager Varun Gupta, who assured her the process was almost complete.
By the following morning, the family realized they had been conned.
The inspector of the cybercrime unit confirmed that a case has been registered and said police have already frozen ₹12 lakh from the fraudsters’ accounts. “Efforts are on to trace the suspects, who appear to be operating from multiple locations across India,” he added.
Cybersecurity experts warn that such scams are proliferating in India, preying on the aspirations of middle-class families seeking stable businesses. “Fraudsters have become highly sophisticated, using authentic-looking documents, fabricated IDs, and social media advertisements that mirror official campaigns,” said a former police officer who has investigated large-scale cybercrime. “The promise of dealership, franchise or government-backed opportunities is one of the most common hooks — because it combines legitimacy with aspiration.”