How an iPhone 14 Pro Max proved unlucky for this man

A 23-year-old man, who runs a furniture business, won an iPhone 14 Pro Max and a lottery worth Rs. 36 lakh. At least, he thought he did.

Man duped in online scam, loses ₹4.26 Lakh in iPhone lucky draw fraud (HT_PRINT)

A 23-year-old man, who runs a furniture business, fell victim to an online scam involving a lucky draw for the iPhone 14 Pro Max and a lottery worth Rs. 36 lakh. As a result, he lost Rs. 4.26 lakh in a whopping 34 transactions approximately.

The victim had kept the money in his bank account for his sister's wedding when he received a WhatsApp message notifying him that he had won a lucky draw prize conducted by an electronic shop. According to the message, his parcel containing an iPhone 14 Pro Max had been generated. Trusting the message, he contacted the WhatsApp number that was provided.

The fraudsters behind the scam instructed him to pay taxes in order to claim the prize. For some reason, believing their false claims, the victim actually made 34 transactions totaling Rs. 4.26 lakh by May 26.

Realizing that he had been deceived when he didn't receive the promised prize, the victim approached the police. An official complaint has been filed, and the police have registered an offense under sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Indian Penal Code, as well as sections 66C (identity theft) and 66D (cheating by personation using a computer resource) of the Information Technology Act.

The complainant has provided the police with the details of the WhatsApp number used by the fraudsters to contact him, as well as the beneficiary accounts where he transferred the money.