A woman, who was engaged to be married soon, died by suicide in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur after cyber fraudsters scammed and duper her of ₹1.5 lakh, police said on Monday.
The 26-year-old woman was a resident of Saharanpur’s Mohalla Hamid and consumed poison on Sunday, news agency PTI quoted police as saying.
Superintendent of Police (City), Abhimanyu Manglik said the woman was engaged to be married soon, adding that she fell victim to a cyber fraud in which a scammer claimed she had won a lottery of ₹42 lakh and needed to deposit ₹1.5 lakh as tax.
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The scammer even sent her a receipt of ₹42,000 via mobile to gain her trust, police added.
Police said the victim anaged to collect ₹1.5 lakh by withdrawing her savings as well as borrowing money from relatives and neighbours. She transferred the money to an account the scammer asked her to.
Later, when she checked her bank account, she found no deposit reflecting the amount she was told she won in lottery. Upon trying to contact the fraudster, she discovered that the phone number had been switched off.
The woman later realised she been duped took the drastic step, officials said. “We are conducting a detailed investigation into the incident,” SP Manglik said.
Similar case in MP
In a similar case, a woman in Madhya Pradesh’s Mauganj allegedly died by suicide as she panicked after getting threatened with arrest by cyber fraudsters who digitally arrested her and told her that a parcel she had sent contained illegal materials, police said on Monday.
The woman, a 35-year-old government guest teacher, allegedly consumed poison on Sunday evening and died on way to the hospital, news agency PTI quoted police as saying.
“Cyber fraudsters were pressuring the woman, a government guest teacher, after claiming a parcel she had sent contained illegal materials. The accused were seeking money from her,” Superintendent of Police Rasna Thakur said.
The deceased’s brother-in-law, cited in the PTI report, said cyber fraudsters had placed her under ‘digital arrest” and made her transfer ₹22,000 and ₹5,500 into accounts the accused gave her the details of.
The accused told her she would be arrested if she did not pay money,” Vinod Pandey said.
She then consumed a poisonous substance.