Udupi: A 66-year-old woman was allegedly cheated of Rs 65 lakh by cyberfraudsters posing as officials of the Mumbai police. According to the complaint, the victim received a WhatsApp message on July 13 at 10am from a number claiming to belong to the Mumbai police department. She later received a video call from the same number, during which the caller appeared in a police uniform and introduced himself as an inspector from the Colaba police station in Mumbai.The caller asked her who was present at home. When she replied that she was alone, he told her not to panic and claimed that Rs 20 crore had been deposited into her bank account. He further alleged that a criminal case had been registered against her over the money and that the Mangaluru police would arrest her. The fraudsters then enquired about all her bank accounts and allegedly forced her to share photographs of her bank account details. They told her that to clear her name, the serial numbers of the currency notes in her accounts needed to be verified and instructed her to transfer the money to bank accounts specified by them.Believing the claims, the woman allegedly transferred a total of Rs 65 lakh in multiple transactions between July 13 and 17, while the fraudsters continued to contact her repeatedly through WhatsApp calls under the pretext of verification. Realising that she had been cheated, she approached police. Based on her complaint, CEN Crime police sation, Udupi, has registered a case under Section 66(D) of the Information Technology Act and Sections 111(4), 319(2), 308(2) and 318(4) of the BNS.
