Cybercriminals are leaving no stone unturned to con innocents of their hard earned money. A new scam has surfaced online where a man was duped of a large sum of money while he was trying to apply for a bank loan. The man lost around Rs 87,000. What happened? Let me tell you.
Sarabjit Singh, who is a resident of Kaille village in Sudhar area, needed a Rs 2 lakh loan. He applied for this loan through the Flipkart app. Things were going smoothly till here. On December 4, he received a call from someone who was claiming to be a Flipkart representative. They told him that his loan had been approved.
They also told him that even though the loan has been approved, it cannot be disbursed as he had not completed his KYC. He was told to do so immediately. For this, the caller sent Sarabjit a link. He was told to complete an online KYC form and make a token payment of ₹5 to finalise the process.
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The call felt official and he trusted the scammers and filled out the form. After submitting the form, instead of the promised Rs 5, Rs 86,998 were deducted from his bank account. Shocked, when he tried to reach out to the caller again, they disconnected and switched off their phone.
Realising that this was a scam, Sarabjit then reported the incident to the Jagraon police station. The case has been forwarded to the cyber crime department, and an FIR has been lodged under sections of the IPC and IT Act for cheating and fraud. Authorities are now working to trace the stolen money.
To avoid falling in a similar situation, never trust anyone while making financial decisions. If you need a loan, always verify the source and the links that you’re clicking on. Never trust any random link sent by anyone.