Lure of laptop costs marketing executive Rs 70K in online scam

Vadodara: A marketing executive from Karjan town of Vadodara district lost Rs 70,883 in an online shopping fraud last month. The victim Bhautik Vekariya registered a complaint of cheating under Information Technology Act at Karjan police station on Wednesday.
In his complaint, Vekariya said he received a call from a man on February 19 who identified himself as Nikhil and said he was calling from an online shopping company. The man told the complainant that he was chosen as a lucky winner who could get a smart phone or laptop or an LED television. Vekariya hung up the call but was called again the next day with the same offer. After getting a second call, Vekariya assumed it to be a genuine offer. He was asked to buy something from the website to be eligible for the offer and so he purchased garments and paid Rs 940 through universal payment interface (UPI) application to a bank account mentioned by the accused.
Next day, after he verified his email address, Vekariya was told that he will either get a laptop or smart phone. Vekariya chose to take the laptop but was asked to pay Rs 12,700 as GST charges and additional Rs 19,990 for insurance. Few hours later, Vekariya got a call to inform that the insurance money was not transferred. He was asked to pay the amount again, but with the assurance that the earlier payment will be refunded to his account. Within the next three days, Vekariya paid Rs 18,203 to the bank account as asked by the accused.
But on February 24 when he was asked to pay another Rs 15,000, he realized that he had already paid Rs 70,883, more than the cost of a laptop,upon which he approched cops. Police sources said that the numbers from which Vekariya had received calls are from NCR Delhi region. Cops are also in touch with the bank to know details of accounts to which the money was transferred.