Hyderabad: Mohd Aleemuddin, a DTP operator from the Old city, was surprised when he received a call from a stranger who said that he had won a brand new Honda Amaze car as the first prize in an online lottery conducted by Crusebeen Enterprises of Delhi. After gaining his confidence, the caller told Aleemuddin to pay a nominal fee and claim the prize.

Aleemuddin who fell into the trap of the callers collected money from friends and relatives and paid Rs 17 lakh. He was so elated that he did not bother to check the actual price of the car which is less than Rs 10 lakh.

Cyber crime police says that this is a new way of cheating Hyderabadis. Recently, a businessman was also cheated in the same manner, but this time it was a Hyundai Creta car, and he paid around Rs 8 lakh to the fraudsters.

Cyber fraudsters who are targeting city residents are devising new ways to extract money. Earlier, they cheated people in the name of online lotteries, job offers and foreign gifts and collected lakhs, but with cops cracking their modus operandi and putting them behind bars, they came up with a new way of cheating. It is to trap people with offers of winning brand new cars in online contests.

Aleemuddin initially paid some money to register the lottery and later went to pay the amounts as and when asked. After paying more than Rs 12 lakh, he became suspicious and asked the suspects to refund the amount and cancel the prize. They then offered him an LCD television trapping him once again. After collecting the money they switched off their mobiles.

A 26-year-old businessman from Basheerbagh,also fell into a similar trap. “Before paying any amount to strangers they should check their credentials. If there is even a minor suspicion they should alert the police,” cybercrime inspector K.V.M. Prasad said.

While three persons were arrested in the Aleemuddin case a hunt is on in the other case.