Using Kaun Banega Crorepati as bait, fraudsters dupe Haveri man of Rs 15 lakh

HAVERI: A 63-year-old man was duped of Rs 15 lakh by fraudsters. The victim Channaveeraya Harakunimath, was told that he had won a lottery of Rs 25 lakh in the Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) programme, but had to first pay charges like income tax, late fee to claim his prize.
According to police, the former employee of Sanguru Sugar Factory was being cheated since seven years. The man had been paying fraudsters for the last seven years, but after realising that he had been cheated, he has filed a complaint at the CEN Crime police station.
“I received the first call on August 24, 2014 and he had introduced himself to me as one Sharma from KBC.He said that I had won Rs 25 lakh prize money, but I must pay the tax amount, service charge and GST to claim it. I believed them and paid Rs 65,000 the first time. Since then, they have contacted me several times demanding money for the prize. I have paid Rs 1 lakh, Rs 75,000, Rs 70,000, Rs 50,000 to the different accounts given by them in the last seven years,” shared Channaveerayya.
“The accused even called me for money when I was at the police station to file an FIR against fraud. I paid a total of Rs 14.86 lakh as of now. I have lost all my savings to this scam,” he added.
“When they had already received Rs 9 lakh, they threatened to initiate legal action against me if we do not pay the tax amount. Worried about the consequences, we ended up paying the amount,” he added.
“We have filed an FIR now. Will conduct probe into it,” said circle inspector Santosh Pawar.