Bengaluru: Journalist duped of Rs 55 lakh in job scam, five booked
Bengaluru: A 49-year-old journalist and author from Bengaluru was cheated of Rs 55 lakh over a period of 73 days by fraudsters who posed as recruiters offering lucrative job opportunities.
The cyber crime police have registered a case and are investigating the matter, according to a report by The Indian Express. The victim, a resident of Kasavanahalli, stated in his complaint that he had initially registered on Naukri.com, following which he received a call advising him to also sign up on the Indeed job portal. Believing it to be a legitimate process, he followed the instructions.
The fraudsters used spoofed mobile numbers and deceptive email IDs, including indeed1008@ybl.com, punkajs.indeed@gmail.com, and hr@indeedglobe.com, to convince the complainant of the authenticity of the process, the First Information Report (FIR) revealed, according to TIE. They also shared fake job IDs and designations, falsely claiming to represent reputed companies like Amazon.
Over the next two and a half months, the journalist transferred the amount to various bank accounts, believing he was paying for registration, processing fees, and Goods and Services Tax linked to the job offer. When no offer materialised and communication stopped, he realised he had been defrauded.
Based on the complaint, police have booked five suspects—Pankaj Singh, Karthick, Abhinav Arora, Ram Gopal Meena, and Bidappa—who are believed to be operating from Delhi and Haryana, added the report.
The case has been registered under Sections 66(c) (identity theft) and 66(d) (cheating by personation using a computer resource) of the Information Technology Act, along with Sections 318(4) (cheating) and 319(2) (cheating by personation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
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Power tariffs under BESCOM to rise from May 1
Bengaluru (PTI): Power bills for consumers under the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM) will go up from May 1, following an order issued by the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) on Friday.
The hike comes after KERC allowed the BESCOM to recover a revenue deficit of Rs 2,068 crore incurred in 2024-25, from the consumers.
As a result, for every unit of electricity consumed in 2024-25, the customers will be charged an additional 56 paise, it said.
"BESCOM shall calculate, for each of the active consumers of FY2024-25 the amount to be recovered based on their actual energy consumption during FY2024-25. Such amount shall be recovered during FY 2026-27 in equal monthly instalments, to be called as 'FY25 True up Charges', commencing from the first meter reading date falling on or after 1 May 2026 and concluding with the reading date ending on 30 April 2027," the order said.
"It is further ordered that BESCOM shall maintain a separate head of account, allocated for the purpose, to record the adjustment of the said amount to ensure full recovery of the deficit," it added.
Similarly Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation Limited (CESC) has also recorded a revenue deficit of Rs 121.71 crore and can collect an additional 15 paisa per unit for consumption in 2024-25, official sources said.
