Lok Sabha MP’s secretary loses over Rs 1 lakh after calling fake helpline number

Lok Sabha MP’s secretary loses over Rs 1 lakh after calling fake helpline number

A personal secretary to a Lok Sabha MP lost over Rs 1 lakh to fraudsters after calling a fake helpline number to inquire about his train ticket, police said on Tuesday. The incident occurred on January 4 in which the victim, a residing in Lutyen’s Delhi, became a target of cyber fraud while trying to book a train ticket for his daughter and lost Rs 1,28,202 lakh, they said.

According to the police, the victim was attempting to book a train ticket from Chennai to Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, through a mobile application.

In his complaint, the victim claimed that payment got deducted but he did not receive the ticket. After the transaction he searched for a helpline number online on his mobile and called for inquiry, they said.

Three fraudulent transactions were done by the fraudsters from his bank accounts subsequently, the police said.

Realising that he had been defrauded, he immediately filed an online complaint through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP). The complaint was then forwarded to the Cyber Police Station in New Delhi for further investigation, they said.

On January 5, the complaint was formally presented in writing by him, and an inquiry was conducted. After preliminary investigation, the Cyber Police Station filed an FIR and an investigation was launched, they said.