South Goa cyber fraud cases are continuing to rise despite increased public awareness, with police receiving at least one complaint a day and four recent cases exposing losses linked to e-challan links, impersonation, malicious APK files and Telegram-based task scams.
The cases were registered at police stations in Canacona, Cuncolim and Colva. Police have urged residents who lose money through fraudulent online transactions to report the matter immediately, saying prompt complaints improve the chances of tracing and freezing the funds.
The largest reported loss among the recent cases involved a Canacona resident, Relson Miranda, who lost more than Rs 4 lakh after opening an e-challan link received on his mobile phone. Miranda received an OTP from Gokwik but did not share it. He later received a bank message stating that Rs 4 lakh had been transferred to Mobikwik Systems. When he checked his banking application, he found that an unauthorised UPI transaction had been made from his account.
In another Canacona case, Sarvanand Konkonkar of Kindlem lost Rs 3.6 lakh after being contacted by a person claiming to represent the Goa tourism department. According to the complaint, the accused used two WhatsApp accounts between Oct. 8 and 12 and told Konkonkar that his tourism licence required renewal. Believing the communication to be genuine, he followed the instructions and transferred the money through several UPI transactions.
A separate case registered at Cuncolim involved Birbal Nayak, a Jharkhand native residing in Cuncolim, who lost Rs 1.7 lakh after clicking on an APK file sent through WhatsApp. The sender allegedly induced him to apply for the PM Awas Yojana scheme through the file. After it was opened, multiple withdrawals were made from his bank account without his knowledge.
In Colva, Sanjana Meher of Benaulim lost Rs 1.7 lakh in a task-based scam. An unidentified person allegedly contacted her on WhatsApp between July 31 and Sept. 22 and invited her to join a Telegram group. Members were promised money for completing product-related tasks. The victim initially received payments, which helped establish trust, before being persuaded to transfer money to different bank accounts to complete additional tasks and recover earlier investments. Higher returns were promised.
Police officers said the methods used by fraudsters keep changing, but the common pattern is that victims are persuaded to click on a link, install a file or transfer money after receiving a message from an unknown number. The cases also show how official-looking references, including government departments, welfare schemes and licence renewals, are being used to make fraudulent requests appear credible.
Residents have been advised not to open links or install APK files received from unverified sources. Any communication claiming to come from a government department should be checked directly with the concerned office before money is transferred or personal banking information is used.
Police have asked victims to report financial losses at the earliest. The immediate reporting of unauthorised transactions can help investigators trace the movement of funds and seek their freezing before they are moved through additional accounts.
