Panchkula: A self-employed tutor from Panchkula was allegedly duped of Rs 5.42 lakh after clicking on a fake e-challan link sent through a text message, prompting the Cyber Crime police station to register a case and launch an investigation.The complainant, Nusrat Parveen, a resident of Sector 20, told police that she received an SMS on Sept 25 containing a link purportedly related to a pending traffic challan. Believing it to be genuine, she clicked on the link.According to the FIR, the fraud came to light on Sept 30 when Parveen began receiving alerts about unauthorised debits from her Union Bank account. A total of Rs 5,42,886 was allegedly siphoned off through four fraudulent transactions.Realising she had fallen victim to cyber fraud, the victim immediately contacted the national cybercrime helpline, 1930, and later approached the Cyber Crime police station to lodge a formal complaint.Police have registered a case under Sections 316(2) and 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and begun tracing the digital trail and banking channels used in the fraud.Police have once again advised citizens not to click on unsolicited links received through SMS or messaging platforms, particularly those related to e-challans, utility bills, KYC updates or banking services.
