Odisha: Congress MLA confesses to have lost Rs 4 lakh to cyber fraudsters

By S.N.Panda

Bhubaneswar, Oct. 11: Congress MLA from Odisha’s Jeypore, Tara Prasad Bahinipati on Tuesday said he was duped of Rs 4 lakh by cyber fraudsters two months ago and urged all to be careful.

Attending a cyber awareness programme at Jeypore Government High School, Bahinipati urged people to remain careful and not to share OTP (one-time password) with anybody and receive any calls from strangers.

“I got a call from a stranger two months ago. The person asked me if I was interested in having a cement dealership. When I showed my eagerness, he assured me to give authorisation of three-four companies for the dealership in the name of my brother,” said Bahinipati while sharing his experience.

 “The caller also asked me to share my account number for future financial transactions. I got an OTP once I shared my account number with the caller. He withdrew Rs 4 lakh from my account after I revealed the OTP to him. But, he did not allot a cement dealership in my brother’s name. There was no correspondence from him after the transactions,” he added.

Later, Bahinipati lodged a complaint in this regard with the Cyber Police in Koraput district. The police launched a probe in this regard and traced the cyber fraudsters to Bihar.

“People should be extremely careful of these fraudsters. They should not share their account numbers and any other details to any stranger to avoid such kinds of incidents,” said Bahinipati.