A 68-year-old man in Mumbai has been duped out of Rs 1.3 lakh by cybercriminals posing as owners of an electrical supply store. According to police, the individual paid Rs 65,000 twice for a never-delivered transformer, on March 31 and April 13, 2022.
Vijaykar Gnanamani, a Mahim resident, was searching for a transformer for a farm project when he came across "Aditya Electricals," which allegedly claimed to be able to supply Gnanamani with a 63KVA transformer.
According to the police, Gnanamani paid a man named Annasaheb Vinde Rs 65,000 in two instalments. However, he continuously received unsatisfactory responses regarding the transformer's delivery.
Gnanamani wrote to the Aditya Electricals address and eventually visited the store in Pune's Chakan Industrial area, only to learn that it had closed three years ago.
The Mahim police filed an FIR under Indian Penal Code sections 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating), 66C (identity theft), and 66D (cheating by personation by using a computer resource).