A Noida man was duped of ₹8 lakh by cyber fraudsters masquerading as officers in an alarming racket
NOIDA: In a worrying cyber fraud, a resident of Noida lost ₹8 lakh to scamsters masquerading as government officials. Surender Pal Vashisth of Sector 46, was coerced into giving money over several calls on WhatsApp, purportedly by customs officers, the police and even a CBI officer, as told by a statement given by the local cybercrime police station.
The scam began on Friday when Vashisth received a WhatsApp call from a man who said he was a customs officer, one Mohinder Kumar. Kumar told Vashisth that a suspicious parcel in his name had been seized while it was being sent from Mumbai to Malaysia. The parcel, he claimed, contained illegal documents, and an investigation was underway. To avoid further complications, Kumar demanded ₹8 lakh, suggesting the payment would prevent further scrutiny.
He was called by a man claiming to be Sunil Kumar, who happens to be a head constable from Andheri Police Station. He had told Vashisth that his identification details have been connected to the account that is involved in some human trafficking operations. So, Vashisth got really alarmed, and the calls kept on coming, demanding his Aadhaar details and asking for his bank account information.
The pressure mounted to another call from someone he claimed was Anil Yadav, who was posing as a CBI official. Yadav repeated the demand but informed Vashisth that he should desposit ₹8 lakh as money to avoid an enquiry of human trafficking. A highly anxious Vashishth obliged and sent a Rs 8 lakh notarized acknowledgement receipt and real time gross settlement advice following which the amount deposited on 18 September reached a total of ₹44,98,800 into account no.
After the incidence, she had lodged a complaint with Noida cybercrime police. The police have registered two different cases against her including under sections 318(4) and 319(2) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita or BNS. They also registered one more case filed under Section 66D of Information Technology Act. In the further course of probe, during media interaction, he added: "Necessary action is already being taken; though tracing the source of crime and suspected individuals would take much time.
This is a sad reminder of the sophisticated strategies cybercriminals use. They exploit fear and urgency to get hold of their victims. The authorities have advised people to be careful, especially when an unknown caller pretends to be a government official. People are advised to identify such callers through official means.
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