Bhubaneswar, June 11: The Commissionerate Police in Bhubaneswar arrested a youth from Uttar Pradesh for allegedly duping a businessman from the capital city of over Rs 11 lakh by posing as a sales executive of Jindal Steel Pvt. Ltd.
The accused has been identified as Pradum Kumar, hailing from Bhojapur in UP’s Chandauli district. He was caught on June 9 in his village, which comes under the Sakaldiha police station area. He was produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate in Chandauli and later brought to Bhubaneswar on a transit remand.
According to the FIR filed on May 22 at the Cyber Crime and Economic Offences Police Station in Bhubaneswar, the complainant, Mahesh Kumar Singh, was looking online for a steel supplier. He found a toll-free number that claimed to be linked to Jindal Steel. When he called, he was connected to someone pretending to be a sales executive from the company.
The fraudster tricked Singh into placing an order for TMT steel and sent him a fake proforma invoice that looked real, with the Jindal Steel logo, design, and letterhead. Believing the documents were genuine, Singh made two payments — Rs 1,25,300 through IMPS and Rs 10 lakh through NEFT/RTGS — to an Indian Overseas Bank account controlled by the accused.
Police said the bank account used in the scam was in the name of Pradum Kumar. When he was arrested, they also took a mobile phone from him that was reportedly used in the fraud.
Police said the accused and his helpers have been tricking people by pretending to be executives from well-known companies like Jindal Steel. They reach out to victims with fake business offers, send fake invoices using company logos, and convince them to send large amounts of money to bank accounts that the fraudsters control.
The Commissionerate Police have warned people not to send money to unknown accounts without checking first. They asked everyone to verify bank details with the companies before making any payments. If anyone notices suspicious online activity, they should report it at www.cybercrime.gov.in or call the national cybercrime helpline at 1930. For help with cyber issues in Bhubaneswar, people can call the local helpline at 7440006709.
