Mohali: Online fraudsters try new tricks, pose as officials of WhatsApp offering lottery prizes

MOHALI: The Mohali cybercrime department has come across a new way by which fraudsters approach people by posing as employee of WhatsApp and claim that they are calling from the head office. The officials claimed that the miscreants lure victims by telling them that they have won a lottery of Rs 25 lakh.
“The fraudsters tell victims that an international lucky draw has been conducted in five countries and that he/she has won it. To claim the same, they tell the victims that the lottery has reached the Mumbai State Bank of India branch and they send them the photo of a cheque which also mentions the contact details of the bank manager, who would guide them on retrieving the lottery and also send them a pic,” said the officials.
The officials said the fraudsters then ask the victim to add the number on WhatsApp and call the manager through WhatsApp only. They further tell them that one cannot make a normal call because the lottery has been won on WhatsApp. The victim is then asked the lottery number mentioned in the photo.
Deputy superintendent of police, Cyber Crime, Rupinderdeep Kaur Sohi, said, “The Mohali cybercrime officials have come across this new type of scam. We have not received any complaints regarding this. However, we got to know about the new tactics of fraudsters and hence are making people aware. The most important step is that if a person receives such message on WhatsApp, he/she should immediately block the number.”
Sources in the cybercrime department revealed that they were sure that complaints regarding this crime will come slowly.