Panchkula. A 46-year-old lower division clerk working in the management office of Army Public School in Chandimandir has allegedly been cheated of around ₹5 lakh in a cyber fraud involving a loan and credit card offer.
The fraudster allegedly posed as a representative of financial companies, initially promising a loan at a low interest rate and later persuading the victim to transfer money to different bank accounts for credit card processing, repayment of dues and issuance of a No Objection Certificate (NOC).
According to the complaint filed by the victim, Dhiraj Bisht, he came across an advertisement on August 10 offering a ₹2 lakh loan at a low interest rate. Based on the advertisement, he downloaded the Bilcut Loan app. Soon afterward, a man identifying himself as Deepak contacted him by phone and claimed to be associated with Tata Capital Services.
According to the complaint, the accused initially arranged a ₹4 lakh loan for Bisht through LT Finance. He then allegedly told the victim that ₹2 lakh had to be transferred to a bank account for processing an ICICI credit card. Trusting the representation, Bisht transferred the amount to the account provided by the accused.
The accused subsequently demanded another ₹1 lakh, allegedly claiming that the amount was required to clear outstanding dues. The victim allegedly transferred this amount as well. Later, after another loan amount was credited to his account, the accused allegedly persuaded him to transfer another ₹2 lakh to a different bank account.
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The accused allegedly claimed that the second transfer would be used to clear the credit card dues and that an NOC would subsequently be issued to the victim. Bisht transferred the amount as instructed. However, the accused allegedly began delaying the promised NOC, which raised suspicion in the victim’s mind.
Bisht then contacted the concerned credit card company to verify the transaction. He was allegedly informed that no representative from the company had approached him regarding such a process. He subsequently realised that he had been duped and approached the cyber crime police.
Police registered an FIR in the case on September 12 under Sections 318(4) and 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Investigators are examining the mobile numbers and bank accounts allegedly used in the fraud. Police are also tracing the movement of the money to determine where the transferred amounts went and whether they were subsequently moved to other accounts.
Investigators are also examining the source of the loan app advertisement and trying to establish how the accused obtained the victim’s banking and personal information. The role of other individuals allegedly involved in the fraud is also being investigated through mobile numbers, bank account details and digital transaction records.
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