New lottery scam in town, Visakhapatnam Cyber Police alert citizens

Criminals hiding behind computer screens have yet again alerted the Visakhapatnam Cyber Crime Department with their new fraudulent method to loot innocent people. These crimes, which are being meticulously carried out in an organised format, have taken a new form as lotteries and cash prizes. Lately, Meesho, an online shopping platform, has become the bait to rob money from its users under the name of safety deposits and taxes.

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As per a statement by the Visakhapatnam Cyber Crime Department regarding the lottery scam, these criminals first send out messages to Meesho online shopping platform users stating that they have won a lucky draw. In the same message, they direct the victims to contact a person to confirm their claim on the prize money. Upon reaching the phone number mentioned in the message, they ask the victim to pay a certain amount as a security deposit.

Further, the criminals ask the victims to deposit money in the name of several taxes and charges, such as GST, RBI charges, and more. Once a specific amount is looted from the victims, the cyber criminals block the users.

The Visakhapatnam Cyber Crime Department stated that women are the primary targets in this Meesho lottery scam. The police appealed to the residents to avoid messages stating they had won a huge cash prize from suspicious sources.

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