Homemaker loses 11L in insurance policy fraud

Surat: A 62-year-old homemaker from the Adajan area was cheated of Rs 11.03 lakh in an insurance policy fraud where the accused posed as officials of the "Bima Lokpal Office" and extracted money on the pretext of bonuses and refunds. Surat cybercrime police registered an FIR against five persons and launched a probe.According to the complaint, the woman bought a Bharti AXA Life Insurance policy in 2018 for a 10-year term for which she paid a monthly premium of Rs 10,943. In 2021, she received a call from one Sumit Bansal, who claimed to be calling from the Bima Lokpal Office, Delhi. Bansal shared details of her Bharti AXA policy and told her she was eligible for a bonus of Rs 1.75 lakh. He allegedly told her that to receive the bonus, she would need to take eight additional policies under a single-premium scheme. The woman agreed after receiving printed copies of the policies at her residence. When the promised bonus was not credited, she grew suspicious and approached the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA). After her complaint, she managed to get refunds for only three of these policies. On Feb 26, she received another call, this time from Alok Mishra, who claimed to be calling from the "Executive Council of Insurance, Hyderabad". Mishra asked her to share copies of the five remaining policies with her bank details over WhatsApp to process the refunds. Subsequently, Mishra and one Mohan Rathod, allegedly demanded various charges to release the refunds. The woman transferred Rs 11.03 lakh in 11 transactions between March 3 and April 2. Later, the accused sent her a cheque for Rs 17.60 lakh along with a letter on the letterhead of the "Executive Council of Insurers". When she deposited the cheque, it was returned unpaid. Attempts to contact the callers failed as their phones were switched off. Realizing she had been cheated, the woman called the Cybercrime helpline number 1930. Surat Cyber Crime police registered a formal FIR on Monday and are investigating the case.