When Nagamallappa, 42, a farmer from Kumachahalli village in Chamarajanagar district received a message on his phone from a company offering him a loan of ₹5 lakh for just 50 paise on April 14, he could scarcely resist the temptation.
Soon, he followed the link sent along with the message only to be duped into transferring into the fraudsters’ account ₹1.75 lakh in different instalments between April 14 and 17 towards “GST” and “commission”. Mr. Nagamallappa was told that he had to transfer the amount towards “GST and commission” for the loan to be approved and sanctioned.
But, he realised that he had been taken for a ride by the online fraudsters and approached the police on April 21. The Cyber Economics and Narcotics (CEN) Crime police station in Chamarajanagar took up a case.
