Retired principal loses his life savings to cyber frauds

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: A 61-year-old man lost his life savings after he fell into a trap set by cyber fraudsters.

In his complaint, he alleged that the frauds had promised to secure him a Go Gas company dealership in Karnataka and siphoned off Rs 45,80,300 from him.

Nagendrappa, a retired principal from an institute in Hosapete taluk of Vijayanagara district explained that he had initially discovered an opportunity for a Go Gas company dealership in Karnataka, which was purportedly based in Mumbai.

After reaching out to the provided contact number on August 21, a person claiming to be Shashikanth Tiwari from Mumbai guided him to transfer significant sums of money through RTGS for various reasons, such as obtaining an NOC and permits.

This continued for about a month, with Nagendrappa being repeatedly assured that each transaction would be the last. However, on September 22, he transferred over Rs 5 lakh as the "final instalment," after which the caller’s phone number became unreachable.

For an entire week, Nagendrappa tirelessly attempted to contact the same number from which Tiwari had communicated, but it remained switched off. He eventually realised that he has been duped and sought assistance from law enforcement.

"I have nothing with me now. I have transferred all the money I had, in the hope that I would get the dealership of Go Gas and make good money through the business in my village," a distraught and financially drained, Nagendra lamented.

He registered a complaint with both the Kottur police station in Vijayanagara district and the local cybercrime police station. An FIR has been filed by the police.