Mangaluru: As has been mentioned many times in these columns, there could be enough riders if anyone is willing to be taken for a ride.
Over and over, reports appear in the media about bogus prizes being announced through mobile messages to which those wanting to make some quick bucks respond immediately. It is here that the trap is set.
The latest one to fall into it is a woman – whose identity is withheld to protect her privacy – residing in the Vijaya College locality in Mulki.
Last week, she received messages, from two persons claiming to be Ramakant and Jaiprakash Gupta from Kolkata, on her mobile.
It read that her mobile number had won a prize of Rs 1 crore and she had to send a certain amount for processing it. She was lured by the offer and made three payments totalling Rs 65,500.
As the callers kept on exerting pressure on her to pay further on the following days, she got suspicious – a bit late though – and told the callers that she was not interested in getting a crore.
She demanded that the money she already remitted by refunded to her. They told her to remit another Rs 5,000 as a condition for refund. She has now filed a complaint against the two persons. According to police sources, the names could be bogus and tracking them down might be a tough task.
Such instances should make others to understand the basic fact that an amount of Rs 1 crore cannot come that easy. Secondly, for any lucky prize eligibility, one has to buy a ticket by a nominal payment which is fulfilled in the case of mobile prizes.
Sadly, lure of easy money overrides common sense.
Gullible persons taken for a ride!
- Udupi: No Lessons Learnt from Others’ Mistakes – Rs 3.50 Lakh Lost in Online Prize Offer
- Bantwal: Auto Driver Taken for a Ride with offer of Safari Car, Loses Hard-earned Rs 22,250
- Mangalore: Anegundi Resident Loses Rs 2.40 Lakh in Bogus Prize Trap
- Kinnigoli: Moorukaveri Woman Duped of Rs 3.07 Lakh in SMS Prize Trap
- Mangalore: Man Loses Hard-earned Money in ‘Tailor-made’ SMS Lottery Scam
- Udupi: Quick Cash Craze – E-mail Scam Leaves Gundibail Resident Poorer by Rs 8 Lakh!
- Mangalore: PG Aspirant Falls Prey to SMS Prize Trap – Rs 16.42 Lakh Lost