Online scam: Several duped by cancer-cure 'wonder seed'

HYDERABAD: Cyber crime sleuths of Hyderabad have stumbled upon a new racket of fraudsters luring denizens into buying fake cancer-curing `wonder seed' against money .

Police said cyber criminals are operating from the United Kingdom and some local pharma companies have also fallen prey to the fake suppliers of the magic remedy .

In the latest fraud recorded by sleuths at the Hyderabad cyber crime station on November 15, a manager in private company (victim) lost Rs 25 lakh to fraudsters. At least four such cases have been recorded in the city in recent months, police said. The process starts with either a friend request on facebook or through an email, followed by a call from a woman using a United Kingdom (UK) number, a police official said.

The woman would explain the business in detail and also help with contacts of dealers in Delhi, who can be contacted for finally supplying the wonder seed to them for a cut, little realising that there is nothing wonderful hidden in the seeds.

“These are usually seeds of stray plants which do not have any medicinal value. Seeds of stray plants, that look like almond have been used in most cases, Md. Riyazuddin, cyber crime inspector, Cyberabad told TOI.

Afew members of the organized fraudster gangs have dedicated bank accounts for receiving the money from victims.The money once received is distributed among the gang members. “The victims are lured into it by saying that pharma companies in UK purchase the product for 400 dollars per kg, whereas the dealer would offer to the victim for as little as Rs5,000 per kg. It is the newest trick used by organized groups having members across locations. We suspect Nigerian fraudsters are kingpins in this new technique of cyber fraud,“ said P Ravi Kiran, Inspector, cyber crime, Hyderabad.

In another case recorded last month, fraudsters vanis hed with Rs 3cr from a businessman in Tarnaka. The victim committed suicide following the fraud. The case came to light when his son lodged a complaint with the law and order police station. Police warned that there might also be innocent victims buying these `wonder seeds' online for their personal consumption, especially people who have cancer patients at their homes.