Shocking phone lottery fraud costs Mumbai man ₹2.10 lakh; how it was done

tech.hindustantimes.com:

An offence has been registered against an unidentified person after a man from suburban Borivali here was allegedly duped of ₹2.10 lakh in a lottery scam, police said on Sunday.

Based on a complaint, the MHB police recently registered a first information report (FIR), an official said. The complainant had purchased an appliance from an online store in 2019.

Two years later, he received a letter from West Bengal, which was allegedly from the store stating that he had been chosen for a lucky draw, he said. The victim received a scratch card, which revealed that he had won a car worth ₹10.4 lakh as the first prize and he received a call from a man posing as a senior executive with the online store, the official said.

The caller gave the victim the option of collecting the car or having the amount transferred to his account, and he chose the latter, he said. However, to claim ₹10.4 lakh, the unidentified accused asked the victim to deposit ₹2.10 lakh as processing fees and other charges, the official said.

Despite depositing the amount, the caller started demanding more money and the complainant sensed something amiss and demanded a refund, which he did not get, he added.