How cyber criminal posing as “HPCL department head” cheated businessman of Rs 3.5 lakhs

On September 5, 2023, the victim got a call on his cell phone from the fraudster identifying himself as “Manish Pande, department head of HPCL”. The fraudster said they were looking for a place to allot a new LPG cylinder agency in Pune and would like to see if the victim’s place fits in their criteria.

The victim agreed as it was a profitable business opportunity. The fraudster then asked him to send photographs of his place along with his Aadhaar card, Pan card, educational certificates and a cancelled cheque. The victim forwarded the documents over WhatsApp. The fraudster then sent details of HPCL to the victim through an email address with “hpcl” prefix.

On September 8, the fraudster called the victim to “confirm” that his documents have been verified and assured that HPCL would be allotting him an LPG cylinder agency. The fraudster then shared details of a bank account with HPCL in the name, asking the victim to pay Rs 14,500 online as “registration fees”.

Police said the victim believed in the deal as the bank account had “HPCL” in its name and hence transferred the money. Also, on September 11, as per the instructions of the fraudster, the victim again transferred Rs 1,48,200 into the same bank account towards “dealership certificate”. Soon after the transactions, the fraudster emailed copies of registration and dealership certificates to the victim.

On September 12, the fraudster again demanded Rs 5,95,200 more for issuing “HPCL licence”. As the victim replied he did not have the money, the fraudster insisted that at least 50 percent of the amount should be paid immediately. So the victim transferred Rs 1,95,200 online. Within sometime, the fraudster emailed “allotment certificate” to the victim.

On September 13, the fraudster asked the victim for the remaining amount. The victim said he would arrange the money in a few days. Meanwhile, on the same day, the victim went to the HPCL’s office in the Pune Camp area with the documents he had received through the emails. The HPCL employees confirmed these documents were fake, even though they looked very similar to the originals.

“Victim then lodged a complaint at the Cyber police station. After verification, the case was transferred to Sahakar Nagar police station for investigation,” said senior police inspector Surendra Malale.

Officers said that they are probing into the phone number, bank account details and email address used by the cyber criminals for defrauding the victim. Police have booked the accused persons under sections 420, 34 of the Indian Penal Code and sections of the Information Technology Act.