Income Tax Department officer duped of ₹48.9K in online reward points fraud

A 48-year-old IRS officer with the Income Tax Department lost ₹48,902 to an online reward points fraud.

A 48-year-old IRS officer with the Income Tax Department lost ₹48,902 to an online reward points fraud.

Acting on a complaint by the victim, Nishi Padma, the Central Division Cyber Crime Police registered a case of cheating and under various sections of the Information Technology Act, 2000, recently. 

In her complaint, the victim said that she had received a message from an unknown number claiming that the reward points from her bank were going to lapse. The message asked her to click a link and fill in the details to claim the reward on time. She followed the instructions and received an OTP which she promptly entered in the form of the link which she had opened. 

Minutes later she received a message that money from her savings bank account had been debited. The victim tried to call the contact number of the person who shared the link but it was not reachable.

Realising that she had been cheated, the victim approached the police and filed a complaint along with the number from which she received the message. 

The police are now trying to track down the accused through the mobile number and to recover the money transferred to different bank accounts. 

“This is the most common form of online fraud and despite repeated reminders and awareness from banks and police officials not to entertain unknown numbers or click on links sent from unknown sources, people fall prey to such frauds,” a senior cyber crime police official said.