Hyderabad: A 79-year-old retired teacher from Asifnagar was defrauded of Rs 20 lakh by cybercriminals who posed as police officers and kept her under a so-called “digital arrest” for nearly a month.
The fraudsters convinced her that her bank account was linked to a money laundering case and threatened her with arrest if she did not cooperate, reports The New Indian Express.
According to Hyderabad cybercrime police, the victim first received a phone call from a woman claiming to be a police officer, who alleged that her bank account with Canara Bank was connected to illegal transactions.
Soon after, the woman received a video call from a man dressed in a police uniform who introduced himself as “Sunil Yadav” from the Delhi Police and the CBI.
The scammer showed her fake documents with her Aadhaar details and the photo of another person, claiming she was that person’s accomplice. He warned her that she would be arrested unless she followed their instructions.
The fraudsters also sent her two fake documents marked as court orders and a court petition and told her that she was “under digital surveillance,” and directed her to keep her phone switched on at all times.
They also instructed her not to talk to anyone, including her family, as the case was a “national secret.”
“They kept calling throughout the day, checking if I had spoken to anyone, including my son,” the woman was quoted in the report as saying to the police.
When she said she couldn’t walk, they arranged what they called a “video trial,” asking her to wear a white dress before appearing in front of a person pretending to be a judge. The fake judge told her the investigation would continue for four weeks.
The fraudsters then pressured her to transfer money into specific bank accounts “to prove her innocence,” assuring her that the money would be returned once the investigation was over.
Under stress, she went to the bank alone on August 18 and deposited Rs 20 lakh into two accounts, later sending the receipts to the scammers via WhatsApp, she said in the complaint.
When no refund came after three weeks, the callers demanded more money, which she again paid. On October 16, after the fraudsters stopped answering her calls, a relative noticed her distress and learned about the scam.
“She had told them she couldn’t walk, yet she went to the bank alone to deposit the money,” a cybercrime official told TNIE.
The woman later filed a complaint with the Hyderabad cybercrime police, and a case was filed in connection with the case and a probe is underway.
