A 46 year old man working as a lower division clerk (LDC) in the management office of the Army Public School, Chandimandir allegedly lost ₹5 lakh after being duped by a fraudster posing as a representative of loan and credit card companies, according to an FIR registered by the Panchkula cyber crime police.

The complainant, Dhiraj Bisht, 46, told police that on August 10 he came across an advertisement for a loan of ₹2 lakh with a low interest rate. After he downloaded the Bilcut Loan app, a person who identified himself as Deepak contacted him from a mobile number and claimed to be associated with Tata Capital Services.

According to the complaint, the accused initially arranged a loan of ₹4 lakh through LT Finance. He allegedly convinced Bisht to transfer ₹2 lakh to a bank account, claiming it was required for processing an ICICI credit card. The accused subsequently sought another ₹1 lakh, allegedly on the pretext of clearing dues.

Later, after another loan amount was credited to Bisht’s account, the accused allegedly persuaded him to transfer ₹2 lakh to another account, promising to clear his credit card dues and provide an NOC.

Bisht became suspicious after the accused started delaying the promised NOC. On contacting ICICI, he allegedly learnt that no such representative had approached him and that he had been cheated.

Cyber crime police registered an FIR on September 12 under Sections 318(4) and 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Police are investigating the bank accounts and mobile numbers used in the alleged fraud.