Panchkula: A 54-year-old woman from DLF Valley, Sector 3, Panchkula, has allegedly been duped of Rs 76,654 by cyber fraudsters posing as RTO (Regional Transport Office) officials while she was trying to get her Audi Q5 registered in Haryana.The victim, identified as Renu approached the Cyber Crime Police after realising that the persons who contacted her had allegedly impersonated RTO officials and extracted money from her on the pretext of processing her vehicle registration.According to the complaint, Renu, who works with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare as a National External Assessor, had purchased an Audi Q5 bearing registration number from Delhi. On September 10, she searched for information about vehicle registration on Justdial when she received a call from a mobile number. The caller allegedly introduced himself as Abhishek Tiwari, claiming to be an employee of the RTO in Haryana and saying that he was calling from counter number 5.The caller allegedly asked her to send the vehicle’s registration certificate, NOC, Aadhaar card, insurance documents and photograph through WhatsApp. He subsequently demanded Rs 5,000 as processing charges and sent her a QR code.The woman transferred the amount through her HDFC bank account. The complainant said that the caller later accessed the vehicle-related process and an OTP was sent to her husband’s mobile phone. She obtained the OTP from her husband and shared it with the person posing as the RTO employee. Later, another person identifying herself as Babita Singh, allegedly posing as an RTO officer, spoke to her over the phone and assured her that her application was being processed.The fraudsters allegedly continued to demand money on different pretexts. On September 11, the woman was asked to pay Rs 48,952 towards registration fees. She transacted.When the woman repeatedly asked for a receipt and updates on her application, the callers allegedly kept delaying the matter, citing server problems. On September 12, she received a screenshot showing a payment of Rs 95,220 and was allegedly told that since her vehicle was a luxury car, she would have to make a total payment of Rs 95,220, with another Rs 22,702 required from her.Trusting the callers and the person posing as an RTO officer, the woman transferred another Rs 22,702. She subsequently kept asking for a receipt for the registration process, but the person allegedly avoided giving a clear response.The complainant said she eventually suspected that she had fallen victim to a cyber fraud. She then lodged a complaint on the cyber crime portal on September 12. As the transaction details became available, she filed another complaint on September 15 .On September 17, police recorded her statement at Amravati police post, and an FIR was registered.
