Chennai: In yet another novel modus operandi of online cheating, a 32-year-old earth mover operator committed suicide after he was conned Rs 4.5 lakh by online phishing calls saying he won a car worth Rs 25 lakh in a lucky draw in Chengalpattu district of Tamil Nadu.
The deceased was identified as Saravanan (32) of Dimbavaram village near Chengalpattu.
On March 23, the victim received a phone call from uidentified people stating that for a development of a particular company, random people were selected in a lucky draw and they were given prizes.
Saravanan was told that he was one of the lucky winners who won a brand new Mahindra XUV 700 worth nearly Rs 25 lakh.
Feeling that the dame luck has smiled on him, an elated Saravanan sought for the details and he was told that there were a few formalities to be completed after which he would be invited to a function where the car will be presented to him.
After asking him to send a copy of his Aadhaar, driving licence, pan card and ration card through WhatsApp, the callers--a man and a woman--asked him to transfer Rs 2.5 lakh for insurance and road tax to their agent named Dinesh.
Saravanan managed to borrow the money and transferred the amount after which he again received a call, this time was asking him to pay a sum of Rs one lakh for GST to agent Pooja Rani.
Saravanan transferred the money, after which he received another call in which he was informed that all the formalities were completed and was told to pay another Rs one lakh as a processing fee.
As he did not get any calls for several days after the payment, Saravanan tried to call them, but the mobile phone was switched off.
Sensing something amiss had happened, he filed a complaint with the Chengalpattu Cyber Crime police, who have registered a case and started investigations.
Saravanan, who was dejected over losing money money to scammers, he ended his life by committing suicide late last nightTuesday and it came to light on Wednesday.
