Tasaduq Hussain
Kupwara: A family from Goose village in this north Kashmir district has allegedly lost Rs 23 lakh to online fraud.
Abdul Majeed, a resident of Goose, said that his son received a message of having won a Mercedes car and Rs 50 lakh cash as lucky draw winner. Majeed says he was directed deposit money with an advice of not letting others know about it before the reward money and the car was handed over to him.
Majeed’s son, Rafiq Ahmad said that on 10 December 2018 he received a whatsap message from an unknown number, stating that he was one among the lucky winners of ‘Kaun Baneyga Caroorpati’, an Indian television game show aired on Sony television. The prize included a Mercedes car and rupees five million, he says.
“I remained in constant touch with that person and he kept directing me to submit money. On one occasion he told me to deposit Rs 16000 in the State Bank Account as part of charges. I managed the amount and submitted in his account,” he says.
As days passed by, Rafiq, a class 10th student, said that the contact person demanded more money. “I discussed the same with my family members on conditions of not disclosing it publically. I received firm support from my family who on my saying sold almost 5 Kanals of land and recently build house only to make sure we collect the amount,” he says.
From December till first week of the prevailing month, he said: “we believed that person but in recent days, he would hardly answer my messages and phone calls.”
During the course of online chatting and phone call conversation, Rafiq said he was told that he will be called to receive the amount and the Mercedes car on the show which will be telecast live.
“We have lost everything. We sold out land and we don’t have food and shelter now,” says Majeed. He has now appealed the police to look into the matter and recover the money.
