All of us love watching movies and we also love the actors that star in them. But this fandom is sometimes exploited by fraudsters to make a quick buck. A while back, a 30-year-old man posed as popular singer Armaan Malik online and proceeded to extort women for money. He was caught by the police however, this is not a lone incident.
Pradeep Kumar, a 27-year-old resident of Ramanathapuram, Tamil Nadu, also became a victim recently. He wanted to meet actress Kajal Aggarwal, so he registered with a website that promised him a face-to-face meeting.
As per reports in Hindustan Times, the victim was asked to upload his pictures, identity proof and also pay Rs.50,000 as service charge. Consequently, the fraudster found out that his father Kathiresan was a rich businessman. Then he sent him morphed photos and started blackmailing him.
The victim paid 75 lacs due to the threats and eventually ran away from home. When his father approached the police, he was found in Kolkata and the matter was brought to light.
The authorities tracked the fraudster through the bank account in which the payment was made. The trail led them to 37-year-old film producer Saravanakumar who was arrested from Chennai. Superintendent of Police Om Prakash Meena said,
“We could recover only Rs 9 lakh and a mobile phone from the accused. He claims to have spent rest of the money in cricket gambling.”
Since online frauds are on the rise, it is always a good idea to stay away from unverified websites and unsecure payment portals, don’t you think?