A Colonel in the Indian Army was duped through a phishing call, where the caller posed as the Armyman’s associate, and asked for money claiming that he was stranded in Vrindavan.
Thinking that his friend was in trouble, the Colonel paid Rs 6,000 through a series of Paytm transactions. However, when the accused kept demanding for more money, the Colonel called up the friend only to find out that he never visited Vrindavan in the first place.
A case has been registered at South Avenue police station under sections 66 C and 66 D of the IT Act (2000), and IPC sections 419 and 420, said police. “We tried to trace the phone numbers and the Paytm accounts used by the accused to ascertain his location. The phone numbers were operated through a fake SIM and the Paytm account details were also found to be fraudulent,” said a police officer.
The Colonel initially approached the Delhi Police Special Cell following which the complaint was marked to the local police station to launch investigations. According to police, the Colonel said that in the month of April, he received a phone call from an unknown number. “The caller posed as his friend and claimed that his wallet was stolen while on a visit to Vrindavan.”