Indore retired teacher, 76, loses Rs 2 lakh to Facebook ad fraud; police recover money in 24 hours

Cyber fraudsters in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, lured a 76-year-old retired teacher with the promise of a digital life certificate made from home and took Rs 2 lakh from his account. The Crime Branch and cyber police acted immediately after the incident and had the entire amount returned safely within 24 hours.

The victim is a retired employee of the education department. A life certificate is required to keep a pension running, so he was searching for information about it on social media. He then saw an advertisement on Facebook claiming that an online life certificate could be prepared at home.

As soon as the senior citizen clicked on the advertisement, the fraudsters contacted him. They sent a suspicious link and asked him to enter his bank account details and other sensitive financial information on it. The moment he entered the information, Rs 2 lakh was withdrawn from his account.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rajesh Dandotiya said the victim filed a police complaint immediately on learning that money had been debited from his account. After the complaint was received, the cyber cell began its investigation without delay.

According to Dandotiya, technical evidence in the investigation showed that the fraudsters had used the stolen money to shop online on various e-commerce platforms. The goods in these orders were to be delivered to an address in West Bengal.

Once this came to light, the police team immediately coordinated with the e-commerce companies concerned and had all the orders cancelled before delivery. The bank transactions were then frozen and the full amount was refunded to the victim's account.

Police are now searching for the members of this interstate cyber gang. No arrest in the case has been reported so far.