Four Cyber Fraud Cases Reported in Varanasi, Total Loss Over ₹68 Lakh

Varanasi: Several people in the city have recently fallen victim to cyber fraud, losing more than ₹68 lakh in separate incidents. Police have registered cases and begun investigations.

Man loses ₹53 lakh in stock market fraud

Deepak Kumar Sharma, who lives on Chaukaghat Road, was cheated of ₹53.11 lakh by fraudsters who promised high profits from stock market investments.
On September 10, he received a Facebook friend request from a man named Sanjay Kathoria. After accepting it, he started getting WhatsApp messages from a woman named Vanshika Gill. She added him to a WhatsApp group of about 100–150 members where “trading tips” were shared.

Deepak was convinced to invest money in several installments. When he tried to withdraw the amount, the fraudsters asked him to pay an extra ₹10 lakh as a service charge. Police found that the money was sent to current accounts in different states.

₹4.17 lakh cheated in Shivpur

In another case, Nimish Kaudinya of Vishwanathpuri Colony lost ₹4.17 lakh after befriending a woman on Facebook.
The woman, who introduced herself as Sohni Sharma, claimed to be a fashion designer working in Bengaluru. During phone calls and WhatsApp chats, she talked about investing in a business and later tricked him into sending her money.

₹9 lakh taken on pretext of selling land

Deepak Singh from Jagdishpur (Kapseethi) complained that he was cheated of ₹9 lakh by Praveen Kumar Mishra of Bhikhpur (Pratappur).
He said Praveen first took ₹1.5 lakh as security money and later collected ₹7.5 lakh more through online transfer, UPI and cheque. After taking the total amount, Praveen neither provided the land nor returned the money. He also allegedly threatened to kill the complainant. A case has been registered.

Cheating through stolen cheque

A saree trader, Tabrez Khan of Nadesar, lodged a case at the Bhelupur police station, claiming that money was withdrawn from his bank account without his knowledge.
He said a cheque from his chequebook was stolen and used to withdraw ₹1.89 lakh and later ₹49,000 from a post office in Maidagin.
The account holder’s name mentioned on the cheque was Sanjay Kanturam from Kurla (West), Mumbai. Tabrez alleged that the fraud could have been done in collusion with bank or courier staff. He runs a firm named “Nice Infra” in his mother’s name.

Police in all four cases are investigating the complaints and trying to trace the accused.