A resident of Salt Lake, who lost more than Rs 52,000 while trying to sell a helmet on an online trading portal last year, got back the entire amount he had lost.
Police have been able to recover the amount and refund it to the complainant, Sourav Paul, on Thursday because the matter was reported to them on time.
A police officer of Bidhannagar cyber crime police station said they received the complaint in September last year from Paul that he was duped of Rs 52,433.
“The complainant had uploaded the photograph of a helmet on an online trading portal. He received a call from a person who posed as a prospective buyer and duped him,” said an officer of Bidhannagar police commissionerate.
The alleged fraudster had sent Paul a QR Code on the pretext of sending him money to purchase the helmet and convinced him to scan the QR Code, the police said.
“The fraudster convinced the complainant to share an OTP that was generated in his phone and transferred the amount before Paul could realise what was happening,” said the officer.
A senior police officer of Bidhannagar cyber crime police station said Paul reported the matter to the police and they had immediately swung into action to detect the account to which the money was transferred from Paul’s account.
“In case of any online fraud, it is important to report the crime at the earliest. The fraudsters can transfer the money from one account to another in a few minutes. The challenge is to freeze the account before the money is withdrawn through an ATM,” said the officer.
