Bengaluru man loses ₹1.4 lakh to Kumbh Mela scam

A man from Bengaluru fell victim to a scam and lost ₹1.4 lakh. The scammer pretended to be a BBMP engineer in trouble. The victim, a 54-year-old employee from Banashankari, became involved after his friend received a suspicious call on March 5. The caller claimed to be Venkatesh, a BBMP engineer stuck at the Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj. He said he missed his flight back to Bengaluru. Because his friend had difficulty understanding Hindi, the victim took over the call. The scammer asked for urgent money to book new flight tickets and promised to pay back once he returned. Trusting the story, the victim transferred ₹1.4 lakh in two payments through a digital app. However, when he tried to reach the caller the next day, there was no response. After several days without contact, the victim realized he had been tricked and reported the incident to the police. Authorities investigating the case noted that the victim should have been wary. The scammer, who claimed to work for BBMP, spoke in Hindi instead of Kannada. Police are now working to trace the scammer using the transaction details. In a related incident, a 70-year-old man in Bengaluru also fell prey to a cyber scam, losing nearly ₹89 lakh over 11 days after being manipulated by criminals posing as police officers.