After online complaints about lost phones, residents get ‘fraudulent’ calls, probe begins

Chandigarh Police Tuesday started probing a complaint of one such fraudulent call, received by a doctor couple who had recently lodged a missing complaint of their cell phone through the ‘Report Lost Article’ option available on its online portal.

According to the complaint, the caller had told them that their missing cell phone was available with them and if they want to get it, they can collect it from their address.

Sources said in most of the fraudulent calls, the callers introduced themselves as residents of Orissa and Jharkhand. “They lured the people to deposit the cash towards courier charges in their accounts to get the lost phones at the complainant’s residential addresses. The recent complaint was received from a doctor couple who had lodged an online missing complaint through the portal a fortnight back and started receiving fraudulent calls last week. The couple has filed a written complaint and it is being probed by cyber crime cell,” said a source.

DSP (Cyber) Rashmi Yadav Sharma confirmed so far, they had received one written complaint in this connection from the doctor couple. “We have started the investigation. Indeed, it is a serious issue and we are trying to ascertain from where the callers are accessing the phone number, make of the cell phone, iphone and ipads of the victims. We have focused our probe at three directions, which can not be disclosed at this moment,” said Sharma.

Sources, however, said police are probing how the online data was being leaked, if the information was being leaked through the service provider agency, engaged in searching the missing cell phones through surveillance, and the role of any insider.

Suresh Kumar of Sector 38, who had lodged an online missing complaint of his cell phone on August 15 and received a call from an unknown number on September 2, said the caller told him that he was in Orissa. “He said my cell phone was with him. The caller insisted me to collect the cell phone from his address. He had messaged me a residential address. I approached nearby Sector 39 police station and they suggested me to lodge a complaint in the headquarters at Sector 9,” said Kumar who had lost his smart cell phone from his restaurant in Sector 38 on August 14. He approached the police headquarters on September 3.

The online option ‘Report Lost Article’ was introduced for the convenience of general public in October 2015.