A retired government employee lost ₹4.5 lakh to a scam involving a fraudulent Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) helpline.

The 67-year-old victim was searching for the IRCTC helpline to enquire about his cancelled railway tickets when he stumbled upon the scam.

The fraudster convinced the retiree to install a remote access application on his mobile, promising to assist him with his query. Once installed, the scammer asked the man to share the application code and his bank account details, following which ₹4.5 lakh was illicitly withdrawn from his account.

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According to the police report, he had initially booked three train tickets for travel to Uttar Pradesh on October 21. However, the individual opted to cancel two of the tickets on October 17 using the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) website. It is during this process that he found himself trapped in the scam.

Upon realising the fraudulent activity, the victim immediately blocked his bank account and lodged an online complaint.

The local authorities registered a case on Thursday under Section 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Indian Penal Code and 66D (cheating by personation by using computer resource) of the Information Technology Act.

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Note: This story was first published on the Free Press Journal.