Navi Mumbai man duped of Rs 6L in insurance fraud

George Mendonca

Navi Mumbai: A 52-year-old resident of Kamothe in Navi Mumbai was cheated of Rs 6.1 lakh by a four-member gang of cyber criminals, police said.

Acting on a complaint by the victim, the Kamothe police have registered an FIR against the four unidentified accused.

As per the complainant, the fraudsters contacted him on March 23 by posing as representatives of IRDAI (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India) and claimed that they would assist him in recovering his insurance policy amount of Rs 13 lakhs as his policy had lapsed due to non-payment of premiums. He was sent a fake IRDAI document with details of his insurance policy, thus gaining his trust. Thereafter, under the pretext of government fees, he was made to gradually transfer a total of Rs 6.10 lakhs by providing him with different bank accounts between March 23 and May 6.

As the lapsed insurance policy amount was not reimbursed for two months, the complainant contacted the callers, who told him to transfer a larger amount under the pretext of various govt fees. The complainant suspected foul play, and upon verification of the IRDAI document sent to him, he learnt that the document was fake and he realised that he was cheated by cyber fraudsters. Hence, he lodged an online complaint with NCCRP (National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal) after which an FIR was registered at Kamothe police station on Tuesday.