Prayagraj, Nov. 11 -- Despite awareness drives and efforts by the cyber police, cyber crimes continue to rise in Sangam city. In the past month, five residents of Prayagraj were cheated of a total of Rs.1.26 crore by online fraudsters promising high returns on investments. Based on the victims' complaints, the cyber crime police have registered cases and started investigations. Vivek Kumar Srivastava, a resident of Sohbatiya Bagh, was tricked into investing Rs.50 lakh in a fake IPO scheme. He was promised large profits from stock market investments but later realised he had been cheated. In another case, Sachin Kumar, a resident of Darbhanga Colony, Georgetown, was duped of Rs.36.99 lakh under the pretext of investing in US stocks. Originally from Saharanpur, he currently lives in a rented house in Prayagraj. Similarly, Pawan Kumar of Meerapur was defrauded of Rs.6.98 lakh after he tried to take a franchise of a well-known consumer company. He said he had contacted a helpline number found online, where a man named Rohit Singh claimed to be a company representative. After Pawan deposited the amount, the caller switched off his phone. In two other incidents, cyber criminals hacked the mobile phones of Govind Pal of Kareli and Ramsundar Patel of Nawabganj. Rs.7.09 lakh was withdrawn from Govind Pal's bank account and Rs.6.98 lakh from Ramsundar Patel's account. Deputy commissioner of police (Trans Yamuna) Kuldeep Singh Gunawat, who is also the nodal officer of the cyber cell, said that lack of awareness about online safety measures and the tendency to believe attractive investment offers on social media were major reasons behind such frauds. htc...