Hyderabad: A 29-year-old information professional from Borabanda has lost Rs 13.4 lakh to a gang of fraudsters operating a fake escort service portal. Based on his complaint, Cyberabad cyber crime police have booked a cheating case.The victim searched online for escort services in April and came across a website – https://ma*****repu****.com. He contacted the mobile numbers on the website through WhatsApp. The accused responded, both in Hindi and English. They promised to arrange women for ‘companionship’ and shared photographs.As the victim expressed his interest in the profiled women, the accused demanded payments to arrange a direct contact. “For registration on the website, hotel bookings, service charges, medical verification and GST, I was made to transfer money to different bank accounts and UPI IDs provided by the fraudsters. They promised to refund a major chunk once I started meeting the women,” the victim told police.When he sought a promised refund in May, the accused stopped responding to the messages. After waiting for a favourable response for over a month, the victim finally approached police on June 30. On his complaint, a case was registered by the Cyberabad cyber crime police under Sections 318(4) (cheating) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 66-D of the IT Act.
