Hyderabad: Fraudsters have now started cheating people claiming to be officials from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDA) and are collecting money.
The crooks contact victims over the phone stating that their insurance policy has lapsed and the attached bonus money is revivable. In the guise of helping customers they tell them to claim the amount by taking another insurance policy for a short period. The culprits ask them to deposit the money into their accounts as processing fee etc and dupe the customers.
The frauds contact ignorant people on the phone stating that their lapsed insurance policy and the attached bonus money is revivable and are lying idle at Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India , Mumbai. It is ready to be settled on claim. The fraudsters impress the victims impersonating as insurance company employees.
According to Cyber Crime officials the crooks also suggest that for claiming that money they have to take another policy for a short term and within one month they can encash all their policies. The callers attract the victims with sweet talk. Believing them people take new insurance policies worth '1 lakh or so from insurance companies, said an official.
The culprits ask policy holders to deposit money in their accounts for tax deduction etc. The amount deposited is immediately withdrawn and there is no response after that. After losing lakhs and contacting the actual insurance company, the victims come to know that they were duped.
The amount deposited ranges from thousands to lakhs. In some cases the customers step back and thus their money is saved, a cyber crime official said. Cyber Crime police sources said about half a dozen such cases have been reported in the last one month.
