Hyderabad: 23-year-old student loses Rs 2.6 lakh to scamsters in bid to buy avocados

The student was searching to buy avocados online and came across a supplier from Vijayawada. However, he was instead contacted by cyber fraudsters who claimed to be representatives of the fruit export company

Hyderabad: A 23-year-old student from the city was duped to the tune of Rs 2.6 lakh by cyber fraudsters who promised to supply avocados from Vijayawada.

The student was searching to buy avocados online and came across a supplier from Vijayawada. However, he was instead contacted by cyber fraudsters who claimed to be representatives of the fruit export company. The scammers said the avocados would be delivered but requested money to cover fuel expenses. The victim agreed and transferred the amount.

Subsequently, they stated that their delivery vehicle had broken down and required repair. They even sent a photo claiming to be from the scene of an accident and requested more money, which the victim again paid.

“The scammers then said they were just 10 km away from the delivery location but had been stopped by traffic police, for which they again asked for money. The victim paid for it. To gain the victim’s trust, they apologised and even sent a photo of a cheque to assure repayment. The victim was asked to provide his bank account details for the refund,” cyber crime officials said.

Despite initial hesitation, the victim eventually transferred more money, believing the cheque was genuine. However, the scammer continued asking for money under various pretexts, including additional charges and GST avoidance by involving a third-party intermediary.

When the victim finally refused to send any more money and confronted the scammer, he was threatened with dire consequences and told the cheque would not be sent unless further payments were made. After ending up losing Rs 2.6 lakh, the victim, who realised it was a fraud, lodged a complaint.

The Cybercrime Police were investigating.