Adivasi cheated of Rs 8.5 lakh in the name of Kaun Banega Crorepati

ADILABAD: Adivasis are also falling prey to cyber fraud in this region. An Adivasi youth was cheated of Rs 8.5 lakh by cyber fraudsters by faking the popular Kaun Banega crorepati TV gameshow in Komaram Bheem Asifabad district, it is alleged.

The TV show hosted by actor Amitabh Bacchan is hugely popular among the Adivasis in Adilabad.

The fraudsters informed Atram Ravinder of Pangidi Madara village in Tiryani mandal that he had won a BMW car in the lottery. He got enthused, sold all his assets, including a TV and bullocks and paid money in instalments in the hope of claiming the car.

It is learnt that the fraudsters called Atram Ravinder regularly and motivated him to pay the amounts towards taxes to clear the BMW from the government agencies.

Ravinder says he got a message on his mobile one day, saying he won the Kaun Banega Crorepati game and would get a BMW of the value of Rs 25 lakh. This was in March last and he’s regretting it all now. 

An excited Ravinder started chatting without thinking that the fraudsters were trapping him online. Ravinder unwittingly gave details of his bank account to unknown callers who communicated with him online through Whatsapp chat.

At one point, the fraudsters told Ravinder that he had no ‘minimum balance’ in his bank account, so he must pay Rs 50,000 towards taxes to claim the BMW car. Through regular persuasion, they made Ravinder give them nearly Rs 8.5 lakh in instalments. They kept ‘postponing’ the delivery of the BMW car, however.

When Ravinder got suspicious, he asked them to return his money. However, he found that the cell phone at the other end was suddenly in switched-off mode, and the communication got snapped. He says he would lodge a complaint with the local police.