Kumbarakoppal woman loses Rs. 2.31 lakh; Rs. 38 lakh donor amount swindled 

Mysuru: Cyber criminals, posing as social workers helping differently-abled persons, have cheated a city resident of Rs. 2.31 lakh and further defrauded donors to the tune of Rs. 38 lakh using the bank accounts and documents obtained from her.

The victim has been identified as Meenakshi, a resident of Kumbarakoppal in Mysuru.

According to the Police, Meenakshi came across a Facebook advertisement posted by Charles Donne and Deepti Lindarani from New Delhi, claiming to provide financial support for differently-abled individuals. Hoping to secure assistance for her differently-abled mother and brother, Meenakshi clicked on the link provided in the advertisement and contacted the duo.

Monthly aid assured

Charles and Deepti assured Meenakshi that she would receive Rs. 50,000 per month as financial aid but asked her to first pay a registration fee of     Rs. 28,000, which she transferred online via UPI.

The fraudsters then continued to demand additional payments. To meet their demands, Meenakshi even pledged her gold ornaments and transferred more money through a jewellery shop owner using UPI, amounting to a total of Rs. 2.31 lakh.

Subsequently, the fraudsters convinced Meenakshi to send the bank passbooks and ATM cards of five family members via speed post. Using these documents, they received donations totalling Rs. 38 lakh from various organisations and donors into the bank accounts of Meenakshi and her family. They then withdrew the funds using the ATM cards without the family’s knowledge.

A few days later, Bengaluru Cyber Police visited Meenakshi’s house and informed her that multiple illegal financial transactions had taken place from her and her family’s bank accounts.

Shocked by this revelation, Meenakshi and her family provided all necessary information to the Cyber Police.

Following a Court directive, the city’s CEN (Cyber Crime, Economic Offences & Narcotics) Crime Police have registered a case and taken up investigation.