Man loses ₹4.5L to phishing calls, kills self in Chengalpattu

CHENNAI: A 32-year-old earth mover operator died by suicide in Chengalpattu after he was conned Rs 4.5 lakh by online phishing calls by an unidentified group saying he won a car worth Rs 25 lakh in a lucky draw.

The deceased was identified as Saravanan (32) of Dimbavaram near Chengalpattu. On March 23, the victim received a phone call in which he was informed that for a development of a particular company, random people were selected in a lucky draw and they were given prizes.

Saravanan was told that he was one of the lucky winners who won a brand new Mahindra XUV 700 worth nearly Rs 25 lakh.

Excited Saravanan had asked for the details and he was told that there were a few formalities to be completed after which he would be invited to a function and the car will be presented.

After asking him to send a copy of his Aadhaar, driving licence, pan card and ration card through WhatsApp, the callers - a man and a woman - asked him to transfer Rs 2.5 lakh for insurance and road tax to their agent, Dinesh.

Saravanan who managed to borrow the money and transfer the amount again received a call.

This time was asked to pay Rs 1 lakh for GST to agent Pooja Rani.

Saravanan transferred the money , after which he received another call in which he was informed that all the formalities were completed and was told to pay another Rs 1 lakh as a processing fee.

As he did not get any calls for several days after the payment, Saravanan tried to call them, but the mobile phone was switched off.

A few days ago, he filed a complaint with the Chengalpattu Cyber Crime police, who registered a case and are investigating.

Meanwhile, Saravanan was dejected that he lost the money to scammers. On Tuesday night, he died by suicide.