Four individuals in Udupi and Kundapur have lost a combined Rs 18.69 lakh to online fraudsters, with cases officially reported at local police stations on October 10, 2026. These incidents, spanning various sophisticated schemes, underscore a concerning rise in cybercrime across coastal Karnataka.
The most substantial loss affected 75-year-old Ramesh Shetty, who became a victim of a fraudulent trading scheme advertised on Facebook. Shetty invested Rs 14,35,724 beginning July 29, initially receiving returns that encouraged further deposits. By September 1, a message informed him of a Rs 9,24,800 share allocation. Despite his protests that he had not applied for the initial public offering and lacked the funds, the perpetrators allegedly coerced him into borrowing money to pay for the shares. When Shetty later attempted to withdraw his accumulated funds, the fraudsters refused, demanding an additional Rs 5,10,724, purportedly 10% of his profits, threatening to block any withdrawal until he paid. Shetty complied, but the accused then ceased all contact, prompting him to file a complaint at Udupi Town Police Station.
Udupi Town Police also recorded a complaint from Madhava Rao R.V., 61, of Badagubettu, who discovered cyber fraudsters withdrew Rs 55,000 from his bank account on October 6, followed by another unauthorised debit of Rs 1 lakh the next day. Similarly, Nithin Jose reported that on the night of October 7, cyber fraudsters transferred Rs 1,13,940 from his credit card to an account identified as Amazon Web Services without his consent. In Kundapur, Sarika P.V., 33, informed police about multiple unauthorised deductions totaling Rs 1,64,666 from her credit card, all occurring on October 7.
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📰 Source: Mangalore Today