Bengaluru couple falls prey to Nigerian 'lottery' scam, lose Rs 1.3 crore

A Bengaluru couple lost Rs 1.3 crore over a period of three years to the infamous Nigerian online lottery scam.

A Bengaluru couple lost Rs 1.3 crore over a period of three years to the infamous Nigerian online lottery scam. This time an agriculture scientist fell prey to an online quiz in early 2014 and kept sending large sums of money to claim “Rs 5-crore prize” till his demise in December 2014.

After the death, his wife continued to do so till May this year, before she smelt the rat and approached the police. However, by that time the couple had lost Rs 1.3 crore to the fraudster, suggested a report of The Statesman.

The 52-year-old woman approached the cyber crime police station, and informed that she lost Rs 1.3 crore. In her complaint, she said her husband had participated in an online quiz in January 2014 following which he got a call the next day. The caller informed him that he had won a lottery of Rs 5 crore. He also asked him to deposit money in a particular account as fee to claim the lottery money.

The man used to send money to the scamsters till his death in December 2014. He lost all his hard earned money and also all claims from his life insurance policies. The fraudsters told him that they would bring money directly to his home, but it never happened during his life time.

Video Courtesy: YouTube

The scamster later called the scientist’s number after his death and his wife answered the call. They informed her that she could claim the cash on her husband’s behalf. Falling for it, the wife, too, made numerous money transfers until May 2017 when the suspect, who identified himself as Howard Jerry from Delhi, assured her the money would be dropped at her home in Bengaluru after a final transfer of Rs 6.5 lakh to an account.

It was then that she realised her mistake. She approached the police and lodged a complaint in cyber crime department. The police are investigating the whole case. They have found many online transactions.

All the transactions prove that the couple had sent almost Rs 1, 30, 04,000 to the scammers. The scamsters have cheated the couple for three and a half year.

For interesting news videos from InUth, follow us on Youtube.com/InUthdotcom

×Close
×Close