Teacher loses ₹70 lakh to cyber fraud over 5 years in Ghazipur

Ghazipur: A school teacher from Khajua, identified as Pramod Kumar Kaul, fell victim to cyber fraud and lost a total of ₹70 lakh over a period of five years. Lured with the promise of a lottery worth ₹1.5 crore — later increased to ₹7 crore — the fraudsters kept him trapped through continuous calls and threats.

The incident began in October 2019, when the victim received a call claiming he had won a lottery. He was asked to send ₹250 to claim the prize. After this, he regularly received calls from different people, including a woman posing as the Finance Minister and others pretending to be the RBI Governor or a telecom company owner. These calls continued until 2024.

The fraudsters demanded 10% of the supposed lottery amount as processing fees and legal charges. Under pressure, the teacher sent money to several bank accounts. He transferred ₹56,000 to Rakesh Singh’s account in the Bulandshahr PNB branch, about ₹4 lakh to Shobha Sahni’s Indian Bank account in Gorakhpur, and large sums to multiple other accounts. The total amount lost reached ₹70 lakh.

The victim said he was threatened with the kidnapping of his wife and children if he stopped sending money. Out of fear, he took personal loans, borrowed from relatives, sold jewellery, mortgaged LIC policies, and even used money saved for buying land.

When he finally suspected fraud, he approached the Cyber Cell and filed a complaint. The Cyber Crime Police have now registered an FIR and started an investigation against 11 known bank account holders and 12 unidentified persons.

Police have advised people to remain alert and avoid falling for such lottery and prize scams.