Mumbai: Cricketer Poonam Raut's mother loses Rs 1 lakh in cyber fraud; police launch probe

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Mother of cricketer Poonam Raut, who plays for the Indian women's national team, has been allegedly duped of Rs 1 lakh by a cyber fraudster, the police said, reported the PTI.

The fraudster posed himself as her husband's friend, the Mumbai Police said on Monday, as per the PTI.

The complainant Geeta Ganesh Raut reportedly received a call on Saturday afternoon from a man who identified himself as her husband's friend Amit Kumar, the police said.

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The caller told her that he wanted to return Rs 15,000 he had borrowed from her husband Ganesh Raut, a police official said quoting the FIR, as per the PTI.

The caller also told her that he had spoken to her husband who has shared Geeta's mobile number where the loan amount can be transferred via UPI.

"After she spoke to the caller, Geeta Raut received messages about Rs 10,000 and Rs 50,000 being credited to her account. The caller again called her and said he had deposited Rs 50,000 by mistake and requested her to return the money," the official said, the PTI reported on Monday.

Geeta tried to transfer Rs 50,000 back to the payment platform but the transaction couldn't be completed. She received another call from "Amit Kumar" who asked her to transfer the money in different UPI IDs in tranches of Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000, as per the FIR.

While Geeta was trying to return the money while talking to the man on the phone, she realised that Rs 1 lakh had been transferred from her account.

She lodged a complaint at Mahim police station against five unidentified persons whose mobile numbers were used to transfer money from her bank account via UPI.

An FIR was registered under charges of cheating and the Information Technology Act against unidentified persons and a probe is underway.

Meanwhile, in an another incident, last week, a 30-year-old resident from Navi Mumbai fell victim to a cyber scam, losing nearly Rs 28 lakh after being enticed into gold trading, promising lucrative returns, police told PTI on Friday.

According to the PTI, the resident of Nerul filed a complaint, claiming that people had gotten in touch with him and promised him big returns if he traded gold on their website. Between October and November of this year, he gave over Rs 28.35 lakh after giving in to their pressure.

(with PTI inputs)