Warangal/Karimnagar: Residents of Warangal and Karimnagar alleged that they have become victims of a new type of cybercrime, wherein they are cheated of money after being declared winners of a lucky draw held by the popular televised game show Kaun Banega Crorepati. Cybercriminals also share audio messages through WhatsApp that declare victims as winners.
After sending relevant documents to get their ‘Rs.25 lakh prize’, they are asked to send money, either as a processing fee or on other pretexts. In many instances, cybercriminals continue to con victims into making further payments by claiming that the prize money has been increased to Rs. 45 lakh and then to Rs.75 lakh.
However, once a victim stops making the payment and lodges a complaint with the police, the cybercriminals deactivate the WhatsApp number from which they are communicating, they said.
N. Suresh, a resident of Karimnagar city, said that he received a WhatsApp message declaring him as a winner of Rs.25 lakh in 'KBC SIM card lucky draw-2022' with lottery number 1901. He said that the message had links to the KBC office, with an office address as Galaxy Apartments, DJ Road, Bandra, Mumbai. In an audio message, he was asked to call a number - 9573302451 - to interact with Rana Pratap Singh, an SBI bank manager, for receiving the
money.
Further, he was directed to make the call only through WhatsApp. "But I did not take any initiative as I learnt from some of my friends that it is a fake one," Suresh said.
Mahabubabad district superintendent of police Sharad Chandra Pawar cautioned people against falling prey to cybercriminals.
He said that the prize money was a common type of scam, wherein unsuspecting victims are cheated of money. Further, he urged people to report the same on the NCRP portal - www.cybercrime.gov.in -or on helplines - 1930, 100 and 1.
