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Gift card scam hits Bengaluru engineer, ends ups losing Rs 4.5 lakh

The scam began with a message sent to the engineer ahead of Diwali, apparently from his boss, asking him to complete a quick assignment

Fraud, Online scam,scam

Representative image (Photo: Shutterstock)

Abhijeet Kumar New Delhi

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As cyber fraud escalates across India, millions are finding themselves caught in similar digital traps. In a recent case, a Bengaluru-based software engineer lost Rs 4.5 lakh in a gift card scam after receiving a fraudulent WhatsApp message that appeared to be from his boss, according to a report by Moneycontrol
 
The scam started with a message sent to the engineer ahead of Diwali, asking him to complete a quick task. The message, reportedly from his boss, read that he was in a conference call and needed the engineer to purchase Apple gift cards for clients in India. 
 
The engineer, a new hire eager to make a positive impression, proceeded to buy Apple vouchers costing him Rs 4.35 lakh and sent the codes as requested. He discovered the deception only after casually discussing the ‘gift request’ with his HR department, who confirmed it hadn’t come from his actual boss.
 
 
The engineer filed a First Information Report (FIR) the next day at the Bellandur Cyber Crime branch. Police have launched an investigation and cautioned the public about similar scams. The victim expressed frustration over limited support options, explaining that Apple’s customer service operates only Monday through Friday from 9 am to 6 pm, which restricted his ability to block the IDs or receive immediate help.
 

Escalating cybercrime losses in India

 
In the first quarter of 2024, Indian citizens lost about Rs 120.3 crore to ‘digital arrest’ frauds, according to recent government data. Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised awareness of this issue in his Mann Ki Baat radio address on October 27. 
 
The National Cybercrime Reporting Portal recorded 0.74 million complaints between January 1 and April 30 this year, an increase from the 1.5 million cases filed in 2023 and 0.96 million in 2022. These figures reflect a significant rise in cyber fraud cases over the past few years, as reported by Indian Express.
 
Rajesh Kumar, chief executive of the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C), presented a report in May detailing cybercrime losses across various scam types. He noted that Rs 120.3 crore was lost to digital arrest scams, Rs 1,420.48 crore to trading scams, Rs 222.58 crore in investment scams, and Rs 13.23 crore to romance scams. 
 
The Ministry of Home Affairs oversees I4C, which has identified a rise in digital arrest scams specifically, with about 46 per cent of the culprits reportedly operating from locations such as Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia.

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First Published: Oct 28 2024 | 4:50 PM IST

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