A woman relative of an IFS officer was duped of ₹1.48 crore by cyber criminals posing as police officials investigating a banned substance sent to Taiwan in the name of the victim.
After succumbing to the scare tactic of the cyber criminals and transferring the money, the woman realised that she had been conned and lodged a police complaint in this regard. Acting swiftly, the Prayagraj cyber police immediately froze her account and prevented the transfer of the remaining ₹40 lakh from her account.
According to the FIR, Kakoli Dasgupta, a resident of George Town, first received a call by a cybercriminal posing as an employee of a well-known international courier company, who claimed a parcel has been sent to Taiwan in her name, containing banned and objectionable items, three laptops and three credit cards.
He claimed a complaint was made against her and the case was given to Mumbai Crime Branch. After this, another person, posing as a police officer from the office of DCP, Crime Branch called her and threatened her with being sent to jail. He also made a video call to convince the woman that he was a policeman and told her that she was being put under online arrest and was not to leave her house.
They convinced her that she was under constant surveillance. The elderly woman got scared and without even consulting her children living abroad, transferred the money through RTGS to the cyber thugs in multiple transactions.
Confirming the development, DCP (city) Deepak Bhukar said that an FIR has been registered on the complaint of the victim under relevant sections of IPC and the IT Act at the Cybercrime police station and a probe is now underway. ₹40 lakh in the victim’s account too has been frozen, he added.
The DCP (crime) said cyber thugs are sometimes threatening to implicate people in rape cases, contacting them in the name of fake courier firms and sometimes by calling as customs officers. “If you receive such calls, inform on 1930 or by calling the police. Don’t be afraid even if cyber thugs call you posing as police officers. Lodge a complaint with the police,” he said.
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