Mumbai Woman Duped of Rs 22 Lakh by Cyber Fraudsters Mimicking Officials

Mumbai, Jun 18 (PTI) An elderly woman from Mumbai was swindled out of Rs 22 lakh by cyber fraudsters pretending to be members of the Delhi Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and Jammu & Kashmir police. The perpetrators falsely accused her of espionage for Pakistan, officials reported on Wednesday.

This incident marks the first known case in the city where espionage has been used as a pretext in a cyber fraud scam, an official noted. The affected woman, aged 64 and residing in Girgaon, south Mumbai, took her complaint to the South Region Cyber Police Station last week.

As detailed in her complaint, the woman received three phone calls earlier in the month from unknown numbers. The caller disguised himself as "Prem Kumar Gupta", allegedly an officer with the "Delhi ATS" stationed at a "Jammu and Kashmir Border Police Station".

The impersonator informed the woman that she was implicated in a case for allegedly passing sensitive information to Pakistan. To solidify his deception, the fraudster warned her of a potential 10-year prison sentence and a Rs 50 lakh fine for espionage, even going as far as sharing a photo of his supposed ID card to convince her.

In fear of arrest and legal ramifications, the woman transferred Rs 22.4 lakh across various bank accounts provided by the fraudster between June 5 and 10. It was only after the calls ceased that she realized the ruse.

She subsequently filed a complaint on June 13 with the South Region Cyber Police. Following this, a case was registered against the unidentified suspects under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act, according to officials.

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