Odisha cow seller loses Rs 1 lakh to cyber fraud   

BHUBANESWAR: A man was allegedly duped of Rs 1 lakh in a cyber fraud while trying to sell his cow on a mobile application-Krishify-recently.Though the victim had lodged a complaint in this connection with Bharatpur police on March 12, the incident came to light on Monday.

According to the complaint, the victim had uploaded an advertisement on the app on March 11 to sell his cow. He received a call the same day. The conman identified himself as an army personnel and expressed his interest to buy the cow. The deal was finalised at Rs 20,000. “He identified himself as Manjit and said his relatives stay in Baramunda. He told me that he will give me Rs 10,000 online and the remaining amount in cash after taking possession of the cow,” the complaint stated. The accused told the victim that since army personnel are not permitted to transfer money on PhonePe, he would send him a barcode. He asked the victim to scan the code after which he can get the amount.

The victim received a barcode and Rs 5 was transferred to his bank account when he scanned it. Police said the conman may have transferred the money to the victim’s account through an online payment system to win his confidence.The accused then sent a barcode to the victim again and asked him to scan it and collect Rs 10,000. However, on doing so, Rs 20,000 was deducted from the victim’s account.

On being questioned, the person reasoned that there might have been some technical glitch. The accused then sent him four more barcodes which the victim scanned in a bid to get back the Rs 20,000 but a total of Rs 1 lakh was deducted from his account in the process. Police are inquiring into the allegation.