Mumbai, Mar 25 (PTI) Seeking divine intervention for overcoming insecurities of life cost dear to a Mumbai-based software engineer who paid Rs 12.50 lakh to cyber crooks disguised as astrologers who exploited his vulnerabilities to extort money, officials said.

The victim, a resident of the BKC area, had downloaded the DevineTalk app dedicated to 'astrology' to find solace in life, unaware that sharing personal issues is going to leave him poorer financially and frustrated.

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After downloading the app, the techie spoke to a "spiritual guide", identified as Nishant, in January. He was suggested to perform a ritual to heal his life by paying Rs 6,300, police said.

After brooding for a week, the victim finally convinced himself to perform the ritual and contacted Nishant again, who told him that one "bade Maharaj" would perform the 'kriya' or the procedure.

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"Nishant facilitated the conversation between the software engineer and Bade Maharaj through a conference call," as per the FIR.

The fraudsters then started showing their true colours with Bade Maharaj demanding Rs 15,300 more to start the ritual and Rs 28,000 under a different pretext. The victim met these demands by paying up electronically, police said.

"When the victim demanded proof that rituals were performed by Bade Maharaj, the latter called up in the night and demanded an additional Rs 20,000 saying some rituals are incomplete," police said.

When the software engineer hesitated, the Bade Maharaj told him that incomplete rituals could harm his life.

Police said Nishant again facilitated a conversation between the techie and Bade Maharaj. By this time, the victim had ended up paying Rs 2.41 lakh.

However, the fraudsters didn't stop.

They convinced the software engineer that incomplete rituals would harm him at deeper levels and extorted more money.

The victim pulled various resources including a credit card and even borrowed from private money lenders to pay up.

"He collectively paid more than Rs 12.20 lakh over six days in January," an official said.

As the accused demanded more money, the victim sought help from his friends who told him that he was taken for a ride by cyber fraudsters in the name of astrology.

The software engineer then contacted the customer support of the Astrology app, where a woman assured him about finishing the rituals and also offered three 'meditation' sessions for free, the official said.

Meanwhile, the techie checked customer reviews of DevineTalk and realised that many people had complained about fraud practices.

He lodged an FIR on Monday with the Cyber Police Station, leading to the registration of an FIR under various sections of the BNS and Information Technology Act.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)