Pune, May 14 (PTI) A teacher from Pune was cheated of Rs 2.40 lakh by cyber fraudsters while looking for information on RT-PCR tests for coronavirus as he had to fly to Jammu and Kashmir, police said on Friday.

However, since the victim had intimated the cyber cell of the local police in time, the amount was frozen before it could be transferred into the accounts of the fraudsters, an official said.

"The man called on an airline number he found on the net. The person who responded promised to help him and sent him links to download, which were actually remote device control apps. The accused used these apps to carry out transactions to the tune of Rs 2.40 lakh from his debit and credit cards," said Pune cyber cell sub inspector Ravindra Gawari.

"After he approached us, we got the payment platform to stop the transfer of the amount, which was reverted in the victim's account. In the last one week, we have managed to get Rs 8 lakh returned in separate cases with the help of bank, e-commerce and payment platform officials," he added.

(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)