Victim fell into the trap of a gang who operated over the phone.
By Sreekanth A. Nair
A 44-year-old woman committed suicide at her house in Bengaluru after realizing that she had fallen prey to a phishing scam. The victim identified as Palak V, wife of a senior IT professional, lost about Rs. 11 lakh in the scam.
It all started when Palak, mother of two children, received a message claiming that she had won Rs. 45 lakh. The conman, who introduced himself as Andrew, told her that the prize money would be sent directly to her as a demand draft. He said that he needed some money to solve some legal issues and then only he would be able to send her the prize, reported The Times of India.
Fully trusting the man’s claims, she sent the money to the account he directed without consulting with her husband or family members. With this payment, the accused realized that the woman had fallen into the trap and he exploited the situation by demanding more money. In expectation of getting the prize money, the woman deposited money into different accounts.
The police have found that the lady had paid money into different accounts from June 6 to 13. The names of the account holders include Rahul, Hasnath, and Shabbir among many others. The highest payment made in a single transaction was Rs. 2.5 lakh.
“As she was regularly remitting the money, the accused knew that it was a successful trap and kept making her remit more and more money, citing different trivial reasons. In all, she remitted nearly Rs 11 lakh and also flew to Delhi to fetch the prize money on the conman’s instructions,” a police officer told The Times of India.
The conman again demanded money from her at Delhi, but she requested the prize money as she told him she didn’t have any money left with her. But she was denied the money. Palak returned to Bengaluru when she realized that it was a scam.
“The day before she committed suicide, she also tried to consume insecticide but was saved by her children. When asked by her family members what made her take the drastic step, she is said to have described the fraud. However, her family members assured her not to worry and would report the matter to the police,” said the official.
But Palak committed suicide by hanging in the bedroom the next day when the family was about to file a complaint with the police.
The police have registered a case of abetment to suicide under section 306 and cheating under section 420 of the Indian Penal Code. The accounts to which payments were made have been verified.