Sent Consignment After Callers Posed As Army Personnel, Then Paid For Fake Clearances
Rajkot: Cyber fraudsters posing as Indian Army personnel allegedly cheated a 28-year-old Upleta trader of Rs 7.55 lakh after taking delivery of 12,000kg of dolomite powder and demanding money for registration and bill clearance.Dolomite powder is used in agriculture, construction, manufacturing and industry.Rajkot Rural Cyber Crime police station registered an offence against the holders of several mobile numbers and bank accounts, along with two persons who identified themselves as Rajiv and Kuldeep. The case was filed for cheating, cheating by personation and common intention under BNS and relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act.According to the complaint lodged by Upleta resident Riyaz Kidiya, the fraud began on Nov 5 when he received a call from an unknown number. The caller introduced himself as Rajiv Ranjan Kumar, claimed to be an Indian Army employee and said he wanted to buy dolomite powder from Kidiya’s company.After the price was finalised, the accused sent a purchase order for 12,000kg on WhatsApp. Kidiya trusted the order, prepared the consignment and sent it by truck to the address provided by the caller.After delivery, another person contacted Kidiya. He identified himself as Kuldeepsinh, claimed to be an Indian Army employee and told the trader that vendor registration and payment clearance procedures had to be completed before payment for the consignment could be released.The accused, on the pretext of processing the payment, tricked Kidiya into transferring Rs 7.55 lakh online in multiple instalments. When the fraudsters sought more money to clear the bill, Kidiya realised he had been cheated. He called the cybercrime helpline and approached police with a formal complaint.R J Godham, inspector of Cyber Crime police station, said, “Police are currently scrutinising the bank accounts that received the funds to identify the account holders and determine whether they knowingly allowed the fraudsters to use their accounts.”
