A 58-year-old retired woman’s entrepreneurial journey hit a roadblock before it could off. She was conned of ₹8.13 lakh by fraudsters posing as officials from a Gujarat State Finance Department by claiming to offer 100% loan for her solar harvesting project.
Following a complaint, the Hyderabad cyber crimes police booked a case and initiated investigation.
The victim was approached by a man claiming to be a friend of her late husband. Introducing himself as a representative of the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) under the Gujarat State Finance Department, he provided details of the Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) and PMB scheme. He assured her that, as a woman entrepreneur, she was eligible for a 100% loan to fund her solar harvesting project.
Initially, the fraudster contacted the victim’s husband through his mobile number, re-establishing ties before approaching her directly. Eager to explore new business opportunities, the victim expressed her interest in availing of the loan. The fraudster, along with an associate who introduced himself as a credit head, guided her through the loan application process, requesting personal details which she readily provided.
Under the guise of official procedures, the victim was asked to make multiple payments towards government processing fee, including subsidy charges, legal fee, and other administrative costs.
Assured that the payments were refundable, she transferred the required amounts to accounts provided by the fraudsters. She was even issued a loan allotment letter, signing documents that appeared to authenticate the process.
After several transactions, the fraudsters informed her that the loan had been sanctioned and would soon be credited to her account. However, no funds were ever received. During this period, the victim was hospitalised for heart surgery. Following her discharge, she attempted to contact the fraudsters regarding the promised funds or a refund of her payments. However, they refused to return the money and instead demanded additional payments to release the loan amount.
Realising the elaborate fraud, she lodged a complaint with the police.
The police said fraudsters are increasingly impersonating government officials and financial experts, luring victims with promises of business loans under government initiatives such as PMEGP and CGTMSE. Many unsuspecting individuals are tricked into paying supposed processing fee under the illusion that they are refundable.
They stressed that government loans do not require advance payments before disbursal, and official websites should always be checked for verification. Victims are often pressured to act quickly to prevent them from verifying details, the police said.
