Cybercriminals have a field day

The residents of Ludhiana have lost more than Rs 34 lakh to cybercriminals on one pretext or another.

In a first case, Rakesh Kumar of Khanna was duped of Rs 10 cyber fraudsters who had promised to double his money by investing it stocks. Rakesh, who works as an accountant at a gas agency, said in July, he saw an advertisement of IIFL Securities CS App on Instagram. After clicking on the link, the app got downloaded. Considering the platform genuine, he deposited Rs 10 lakh from his bank account. After the app was removed from Play Store, Rakesh realised that he had invested money on some fake platform.

In another case, Bharti Ghai of Model Town, Khanna, lost Rs 7.09 lakh to cybercriminals. Ghai, who works as a teacher, said while using Instagram in June, she clicked on some app related to stocks. The moment she clicked on the link, she was made a member of a WhatsApp group. The group admin lured her to invest in stock market and assured to double her money within a short span. Fraudsters then shared a link with her and informed that she was shortlisted for some IPO. She deposited Rs 9.59 lakh in the bank account provided by the accused. Though she got back Rs 2.50 lakh, her Rs 7.09 lakh was never returned to her.

In third case, Raman Kumar of Samrala lost Rs 12.42 lakh to cyber thugs. In October, he got a message on his handle from telegram ID Maha Laxmi. After the criminals promised to give him multiple returns on his investment, he deposited Rs 12.42 lakh in different accounts. Later, he realised that he was scammed by cybercriminals.

Similarly, Dhanjeet Kaur of Kishanpura Malaud was cheated by cybercriminals of Rs 5 lakh. She said in September, she received a message on WhatsApp and the sender told her to apply for a job in Amazon Shopping Mall and assured her Rs 4,000 salary per day. Later, the accused sent her a link and the moment she clicked on it, Rs 5 lakh was deducted from her bank account.