Bengaluru man loses Rs 30 lakh to escort service; received no service yet

Rao, a freelance software developer living alone in an apartment in Kodichikkanahalli, near Bommanahalli, clicked on an unwanted message that resulted in tens of payments in pursuit of escorts for weeks. He has not received any service weeks after clicking on the first link. However, the escort portal has slashed his profits one click at a time, costing him a total of Rs 30 lakh.

This is not the first time he has been taken advantage of by hackers. He had lost almost Rs 4 lakh to a similar scam in the final week of December 2019.

Rao informed police that he was looking for an escort service online when he came across a link on April 8 and registered his name and credentials. He was called by a woman who confirmed his registration. 

Also Read | JNU tells canteen and dhabha owners to vacate, sends them huge bills

Later, he received a call from another woman, who demanded Rs 840 for the service. He sent Rs 840 and then lost Rs 16 lakh in three days. The criminals requested that he transmit money for a variety of reasons, including hotel room rent.

Rao received another call from a lady, who requested him to send Rs 499 to reserve the escort service. He ultimately transferred Rs 14 lakh in numerous transactions. He stopped transferring funds when the total reached Rs 30 lakh.

On Saturday, Rao contacted southeast CEN criminal police and lodged a report. On January 24, 2020, he filed a similar charge in Bommanahalli, according to police. Bommanahalli police had sent him to the Southeast CEN crime police, and the authorities had blocked a portion of Rao's money from the fraudster's bank account.

Also Read | HDFC Bank warns customers of PAN fraud, Issues alert; here's all you need to know

• Bengaluru
• escort service
• crime
• cyber crime
• fraud
• Bengaluru police