Chandigarh: Fraudsters posing as Adani Gas employees continue to target city residents, with two Chandigarh residents collectively losing more than Rs 4.30 lakh in separate cyber frauds. The Cyber Crime police station in Sector 17 has registered separate FIRs and launched investigations into both cases.In the first incident, Sector 40 resident Harsh Kumar Lakhanpal told police that he had recently applied for an Adani Gas connection. On July 29, he received a call from a man identifying himself as Rakesh Dubey, who claimed to be an Adani Gas employee.The caller informed him that his gas connection had been approved and would be installed the following day. To complete the process, he allegedly sent a purported employee identity card and a link via WhatsApp, asking Lakhanpal to upload his documents online.Police said after Lakhanpal clicked on the link and entered his details, his phone became unresponsive. Soon afterwards, unauthorised withdrawals were made from his Axis Bank and IDBI Bank accounts, resulting in a loss of Rs 2,81,683.In the second case, Vishwanath Sharma of Sector 47, who already has an Adani Gas connection, received a call from a fraudster claiming that his previous month’s gas bill remained unpaid.The caller allegedly sent an APK file through WhatsApp and asked Sharma to install it. After persuading him to pay Rs 12 as a verification fee and share his screen during a WhatsApp call, the fraudster gained access to his credit card details. Subsequent unauthorised transactions worth Rs 1,48,706 were made using Sharma’s HDFC Bank credit card.Based on the complaints, cyber police have registered two separate cases and are examining the mobile numbers, bank accounts and transaction trail involved in the frauds.
