KBC conmen dupe techies in Hyderabad

In yet another con game and bank fraud online, a Hyderabad techie was relieved of his hard earned money in the name of being a Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) lottery winner worth Rs.Two crores. This time the calls claimed to have come from Pakistan.

A resident of Nanakramguda, received a call from an anonymous number informing him that he had won a Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) lottery worth Rs two crore with the programs jingle playing in the background. The caller took all personal details online.

The fraudster gathered banking information from the victim and asked him to deposit a few lakhs as 'fee' to get the lottery money. The Hyderabad cyber police say that it was yet another case of fraud. During investigation, the victims and investigators found that these calls were being made from +92 international code (Pakistan).

When the fraud was first reported last year, Hyderabad police suspected the telephone numbers and email communication's IP addresses to be from Pakistan. However, after the arrest of some people in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh by local police in various online frauds, it came to light that the caller ID spoofing technology was used to send investigators on a wild goose chase and conclude that the call/email originated from Pakistan.

"Till now, three KBC fraud cases have been reported. During investigation, the phone numbers and IP addresses were traced to Pakistan but had used spoofing softwares to misdirect the police, says Cyberabad cyber wing inspector Mohammed Riyazuddin said.

Though the telephone numbers were traced to +92, bank accounts in which the victims were asked to deposit money were found to be maintained in local banks. The accounts, opened using fake documents, were operational for a short period which were abandoned after duping victims, police said.