Indore, Jul 3 (PTI) Madhya Pradesh cyber police returned Rs 1.62 crore to city-based equestrian Sudipti Hajela, who had been tricked into sending the price for a horse to a fraudulent account, within seven days of receiving her complaint, an official said on Friday.
Bharti Vishwakarma, Sub-Inspector of the State Cyber Cell, told PTI that Hajela, who has represented India in several international competitions, had signed an agreement with a foreign company to purchase a horse named ‘Biden’.
Since March, she had deposited about 45 percent of the price into the company’s bank account, he said.
Fraudsters sent a message to her from an email address similar to that of the company’s manager, stating that due to technical reasons, the earlier bank account could not accept any further funds, and she should transfer the remaining funds to a new account.
It was a case of email spoofing and business email compromise (imitating an official email from a company or business partner to defraud a payer into sending a payment to a wrong account), he said.
Not suspecting that anything was fishy, Hajela transferred the remaning Rs 1.62 crore to a New York-based bank account.
After realising that she had been duped, Hajela, currently training abroad, approached police through a relative. The state cyber squad immediately contacted the US bank and, following legal procedures, blocked the transactions in the account.
Vishwakarma said the complainant received Rs 1.62 crore back in her account within seven days. Further probe is on, he said. PTI HWP MAS KRK
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.