An Idea that changed his life

Media student paid security deposit for a cellular tower in his premises. But to the wrong people

Media student paid security deposit for a cellular tower in his premises. But to the wrong people

Quick money is never easy, but a media student from Delhi thought otherwise.
Dwindling job opportunities and a yearning for fast buck got Rohit Chowdhary in the trap of cellular frauds who promised him Rs 25, 000 a month by installing an Idea tower on his plot in Meerut.

How it happened
It was the first week of January and Rohit was flipping through the pages of the morning newspaper. He noticed an advertisement for the requirement of land for the installation of Idea cellular tower to enhance connectivity.
Rohit dialled 9560522692 - the number mentioned in the ad - and spoke to the tele-caller of Star Power Ltd, the company that claimed to be associated with projects of Idea Communications. Kanchan Verma who received the call asked Rohit to submit the booking amount of Rs 6,660 in an account of Punjab National Bank (A/c no 4989000100010640).

Verma further informed Rohit that the owner of the land would be given Rs 10 lakh as soon as the tower is installed and will be paid Rs 25,000 per month once its functional.

Taxing money
Convinced, Rohit deposited the booking amount in the account the next day itself. Within three days he received a call from a person claiming to be the Income tax officer of the area. He identified himself as Kapil Verma and told Rohit that he had received Rs 10 lakh from Idea on his behalf and he had to pay Rs 2,000 as tax over the amount.

After the call Rohit got suspicious, as the money could not have gone directly to the Income Tax department.

The Other Side

"The matter requires investigation by the police. We cannot say anything at the moment. We have always made a cautious effort through circulars that people should be alert before investing in some company." --u00a0Rajat Mukherjee, corporate affairs manager, Idea

He made enquiries and called back on the number, which was unreachable.

"It is then that I realised that I had been duped. I had no idea that you can easily cheat a person so easily in the name of prominent multinational companies. Otherwise I would have never trusted a company just like that. This particular company claimed to be associated with Idea Communications and that was a genuine reason for me to invest," said Rohit.

He later found out that the booking amount he had submitted in the account of one Pawan Kumar. But on enquiring Idea officials told him that there was no one called Pawan Kumar in their rolls.