Siliguri, 22nd September: Cybercrime incidents are on the rise in Siliguri, with new patterns of fraud emerging to deceive people. In two separate cases reported within a week, two residents of Siliguri lost a total of ₹44 lakhs to cyber scammers.
According to reports, on September 21, a woman from Hakim Para in Ward No. 17 of Siliguri Municipal Corporation lodged a complaint at the Cyber Crime Police Station. The woman had received a phone call claiming to be from the Andheri Police Station in Mumbai.
The caller alleged that her mobile SIM card and Aadhaar card were used in illegal activities, and one of her associates had already been arrested. The caller threatened her unless she paid to avoid being arrested. Consequently, the woman transferred ₹13 lakhs. However, later when she informed her son about the incident she realized that she had been scammed.
In another case, a resident of Narmada Bagan under the Pradhan Nagar area was duped out of ₹31 lakh in a stock market trading scam. The victim received a WhatsApp message from a woman, sharing a link for stock market trading. Upon clicking on the link, the victim started trading and initially saw profits. However, enticed by the potential gains, he invested ₹31 lakhs. Later, when he tried to access his account, he found it had been closed.
Both incidents have been reported to the Siliguri Cyber Crime Police, and investigations are currently underway.