IIT-M student loses Rs 1.09 lakh to ‘Army man’ con on online portal

CHENNAI: A student of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras allegedly lost Rs 1.09 lakh to a conman posing as an Indian Army officer, who responded to an advertisement she had posted on OLX, an online classifieds portal.

The student is staying at Sharavati hostel within the campus. After she posted a personal advertisement on OLX to sell an item, a person claiming to be an army official contacted her and collected bank account details, said the FIR registered with Kotturpuram police.

Police sources said the conman sent a phishing link to the student’s mobile, and swindled Rs 1,09,500 from her SBI bank account, through UPI transfer. After losing her money between 9 pm and midnight on August 13, she filed a complaint with Kotturpuram police on August 17 after which a FIR was registered. She has also complained to the bank and cyber-crime wing.

The Kotturpuram police have registered a case under section 420 IPC (cheating) and 66 D of Information Technology Act (Whoever, by means of any communication device or computer resource cheats by personation), and are investigating.

Sources said conning public by impersonating as Indian Army personnel was an organised scam which is picking up in the State. The conmen use similar modus operandi to cheat gullible public by taking numbers from listing websites, they added.

The scamsters first send Army canteen ID card and photographs in uniforms through WhatsApp and then send either a QR code or a malware payment getaway link. The targets are asked to send small amounts like Rs 2 or Rs 5 to make it easy for them to transfer the advance amount. But once the person does clicks on the link, they siphon off the money from the accounts linked with the phone, police said.