Elderly man cheated in name of pension card:Student also loses ₹1.76 lakh after Instagram ad scam

Three separate cyber fraud cases have come to light in Indore, where fraudsters cheated more than ₹4.57 lakh in total by luring victims with offers related to pension cards, mobile hacking and a cheap two-wheeler deal. In all three cases, Lasudia police have registered FIRs against unidentified accused and started investigations. Elderly man duped of ₹1.39 lakh in name of pension card In the first case, 75-year-old Akhilesh Gaikwad, a resident of Satellite Township under Lasudia police station limits, received a call on June 15 from a person posing as a Bank of India official. The caller claimed that pension cards were being issued for pensioners. Since the complainant had earlier applied for such a card, he trusted the caller. The accused collected the victim’s bank details, ATM information and other personal data, and even obtained his photograph online. After this, the elderly man’s mobile phone came under the control of the fraudster. Shortly after, around ₹1.39 lakh was withdrawn from his account through three separate transactions. After learning about the fraud, he lodged a complaint on the cyber helpline. Mobile hacked, ₹1.42 lakh withdrawn from account In another case, Gopal Wakde, a resident of Slice-C Sector, became a victim of cyber fraud after his mobile phone suddenly stopped working on June 17. When he restarted the phone, he discovered that ₹44,000 had already been withdrawn from his account. Later, when he visited the bank, he was informed that another transaction of ₹98,000 had also been carried out. In total, about ₹1.42 lakh was fraudulently withdrawn. Gopal also reported the matter to the cyber helpline, following which Lasudia police registered a case on Sunday. Student duped of ₹1.76 lakh through online bike advertisement In the third incident, a student was cheated after she came across an online advertisement for a two-wheeler on Instagram. According to police, the complainant Pooja Jhamle lives on rent in Rajbagh Colony and is originally from Gandwani. On June 14, she saw an Instagram ad offering a two-wheeler for ₹25,000. Contacting the number given in the advertisement, the accused asked her to pay ₹2,000 as booking amount. The fraudster claimed the vehicle would be transported from outside and that there would be no delivery charges. Later, he sent a photo of the bike and demanded ₹11,500 as transport charges. After this, the accused kept taking money from her under different pretexts. In total, around ₹1.76 lakh was transferred to the fraudsters’ accounts. When the vehicle was not delivered for a long time, she realised she had been cheated and filed a police complaint. Police have registered a case and started an investigation.