Udupi: A man fell victim to an investment scam and allegedly lost Rs 15.5 lakh. In a complaint, Ashwith,34, a resident of Sasihithlu, stated that on Jan 28, he received a WhatsApp message from a number reportedly belonging to Meena Sakpal. In the message, he was invited to join an S-Coin Investment task on the Telegram app. Accordingly, the complainant started using the app, and shared his account details. He was assured that investing more money in the task would yield higher commissions. Believing this, the complainant allegedly transferred a total of Rs 15.5 lakh from his bank account to the UPI number associated with the S-Coin Investment task, during the period from Jan 29 to June 19.Later, when he was asked to invest even more money, the complainant requested a refund of the money already deposited. However, he was told that he would need to pay a tax in order to receive the refund. Despite this, the money was not returned. In this connection, a case was registered at the Karkala Town police station under Section 66(D) of the IT Act.Gym trainer cheated onlineIn another case, a man lost Rs 61,013 in an online fraud. In a complaint, Sharan,19, working as a gym trainer, where he also facilitated the purchase of supplements for gym clients from companies, said that around 8pm on July 18, he placed an order on a website. The next day, a person called him, stating that due to a technical error, the amount paid for the supplement order was stuck. She instructed him to transfer Rs 1,804 to a UPI ID to resolve the issue. After the complainant made the payment, he was told to add 90 paise and resend the amount. Accordingly, he sent Rs 1,804.9 to a UPI ID. He was then told it should be nine paise instead.He was further informed that to get a full refund, his account should have a maintenance amount of Rs 40,000. When he arranged for this, he was told to send a refund request code with an “add note” and fill Rs 39,221 in the amount section, failing which the refund would remain stuck. Later, he was told that since the time had expired, he now needed to maintain Rs 20,000 in his account. Following this instruction, the complainant again sent money, and around 6pm he was told the refund would be processed. However, when he called to follow up, the number was switched off. In total, the complainant was cheated of Rs 61,013.1 online. A case was registered at Byndoor police station under Sections 318(4) of the BNS and Sections 66(C) and 66(D) of the IT Act.
