A 54-year-old businessman was duped of over Rs 4.38 lakh by falling prey to a bogus message, purportedly sent from mobile service provider Airtel, offering him a VVIP number and an iPhone 7.
A 54-year-old businessman was duped of over Rs 4.38 lakh by falling prey to a bogus message, purportedly sent from mobile service provider Airtel, offering him a VVIP number and an iPhone 7. The Azad Maidan police is currently investigating the case.
The victim, Santosh Doshi — a Pune resident who owns a private limited firm at Marine Lines — said, "I received a message from MD-VIPNUM stating 'Airtel VVIP No Dhamaka (list of numbers) or any private no. Call Sanjay given below, WhatsApp or email on info@121airtel.in fix charges: Rs 90,000 iPhone 7 free'".
Doshi said he sent a WhatsApp message to the number stating that he was interested. "I was told that the new number would cost me Rs 2 lakh. I was also promised an iPhone 7 free of cost. I was told my new number would be activated by the evening, and my phone would also arrive around the same time," he said.
The accused instructed Doshi to transfer an amount to a bank account. After Doshi transferred the money, he got a call from a Narenedra Kushwad, who introduced himself as an Airtel employee. He told Doshi that he would have to pay Rs 38,000 as VAT to get the iPhone 7.
"He told me that he would refund the amount (Rs 2 lakh) to my account, after which I would have to transfer Rs 2.38 lakh. They also sent me an invoice with the amount on an Airtel letterhead. I did not receive the phone. The new number was never activated, nor did I get a refund," Doshi added.
He later approached Airtel's head office, where he was told that he might have been duped by fraudsters. The company's officials asked Doshi to file a police complaint.
Vijay Kadam, Senior Police Inspector of Azad Maidan police station said, “We have registered a complaint for the same under sections 420 (cheating) and 34 (act done by several people with a common intention) of the Indian Penal Code. We have already contacted the company and have started tracking the accused.”
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