Fraud alert: Desire for ₹3 crore costs Senior Karnataka official ₹28 lakh

Swaminathan (name changed on request), a resident of Bengaluru and a deputy director in a government department in Kalaburagi, was lured by cyber conmen, who tricked him into spending ₹28 lakh. 

Swaminathan's story began on October 26, 2015 when he received an email stating that he has won ₹3 crore lottery as prize money.  “Sir, congratulations, you have won ₹3 crore cash prize. I feel happy to share this information. But you need to follow certain procedure to receive the cash prize," read the email.

The government official sent in a reply saying that the money should be transferred to Chief Minister's relief fund. 

The fraudsters, however, again got in touch with him and convinced him to collect the money before March 31. Finally, he then agreed to send in his bank details. 

Since October 2015, the conmen kept in regular touch with Swaminathan and finally on April 6, he got a call asking him to transfer ₹13,000 into an SBI account, for a clearance process. Later, he again got a call telling him that a representative of the lottery company was in New Delhi airport, however, for customs clearance, he will have to pay ₹40,000. 

Swaminathan, who by now trusted the conmen completely, was made to shell out a total of ₹28 lakh. The government official, however, kept matters to himself and never told his family members or friends about the "lottery."

However when the fraudsters asked him to send more money even after spending ₹28 lakhs, Swaminathan finally realised that something was amiss. He eventually approached a Cyber police section to file a complaint.

The police suspect it to be the handywork of a Nigerian gang, who reportedly have transferred the money into several accounts in Nagaland.