The victim was booking a train ticket for his daughter through an app on his mobile phone. After the money was deducted and no ticket confirmation was received, he searched for the helpline number, which turned out to be of scammers who made three transactions from his account.
In a shocking incident, a personal secretary (PS) to a Lok Sabha MP was duped of over Rs 1 lakh to fraudsters after he mistakenly called a fake helpline number to inquire about his train ticket, police said on Tuesday.
According to the police, the incident occurred on January 4, in which the victim, who is residing in Lutyen’s Delhi, became a target of cyber fraud. The PS to MP was trying to book a train ticket for his daughter and lost Rs 1,28,202 lakh, they added.
Victim booked ticket but didn’t get confirmation
As per the police, the victim was attempting to book a train ticket from Chennai to Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, through a mobile application for his daughter. In his complaint, the victim claimed that the payment for the train ticket was deducted, but he did not receive the ticket. After the transaction was completed, he searched online for a helpline number to inquire about the ticket confirmation, they said.
Three transactions made
He found out a number which was fake and established contact. The police subsequently said that three fraudulent transactions were done by the fraudsters from his bank accounts.
Realising that he had been defrauded, the victim immediately filed an online complaint through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP). Subsequently, the complaint was forwarded to the Cyber Police Station in New Delhi for further investigation, they said.
On January 5, the complaint was formally presented in writing by him, and an inquiry was conducted. After the preliminary investigation, the Cyber Police Station filed an FIR, and an investigation was launched, they said.
With PTI Inputs