A man was allegedly cheated of ₹1.2 lakh after falling victim to an online franchise scam advertised on Instagram, police said.
According to the complaint, the victim came across an Instagram advertisement offering a franchise opportunity for a company said to be based in Gurugram, Haryana. Interested in the offer, he filled out and submitted an online form through the platform.
Payments made for ‘agreement’ and ‘licence’
Later, he received an application form via email, which he completed and returned. Subsequently, two persons identifying themselves as Sanjay Mishra and Suresh Tripathi contacted him over phone, claiming to represent the company.
They allegedly asked him to pay agreement and licence fees to process the franchise. Between March 4 and 5 last year, the complainant transferred ₹25,000 initially and later ₹97,300, totalling ₹1.2 lakh.
Despite receiving the amount, the accused reportedly continued to call and demand additional payments. Growing suspicious, the complainant realised that he had been duped in an online fraud.
Case registered under BNS and IT Act
A case has been registered at Udupi Town Police Station under Section 318(4) (cheating) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Section 66(D) of the Information Technology Act.
Police have launched an investigation into the fraud and have urged the public to verify franchise offers and avoid transferring money without proper authentication.