The caller posed as "Delhi ATS (Anti-Terrorism Squad) officer Prem Kumar Gupta" and posted at "Jammu and Kashmir Border Police Station", the official said
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The officials on Wednesday said that cyber fraudsters posing as Delhi ATS and Jammu and Kashmir police personnel cheated an elderly woman from Mumbai of Rs 22 lakh after accusing her of spying for Pakistan, reported news agency PTI.
This is the first case in the city of a cyber fraud using espionage as a guise to cheat people, an official claimed.
The 64-year-old woman, who lives at Girgaon in south Mumbai, approached the South Region Cyber Police Station last week, reported PTI.
As per her complaint, she received three calls earlier this month from unidentified numbers.
The caller posed as "Delhi ATS (Anti-Terrorism Squad) officer Prem Kumar Gupta" and posted at "Jammu and Kashmir Border Police Station", the official said, reported PTI.
He told the woman that a case was registered against her for sharing sensitive information with Pakistan, he said.
The fraudster then threatened her saying she would face 10-year imprisonment for espionage along with a fine of Rs 50 lakh. He also shared a photo of his ID card with the woman on her phone to make her believe the claims, the official said, reported PTI.
Scared of arrest and other legal complications, the woman deposited Rs 22.4 lakh in various bank accounts, which were provided by the fraudster between June 5 and 10, he said, reported PTI.
The woman stopped getting the phone calls after she paid the money and later realised she was cheated.
She lodged a complaint with the South Region Cyber police on June 13, based on which a case was registered against unidentified persons under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act, the official said.
Five booked for cheating Dombivli man of Rs 19.6 lakh
In another case, a 32-year-old man from Dombivli in Thane district was allegedly cheated of Rs 19.6 lakh by five persons who promised to get him a flat in a Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) building in Mumbai, police said on Sunday, reported PTI.
Based on a complaint, the police have registered a case under sections 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 504 (intentional insult) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), an official said.
He said the accused approached the complainant in December 2020 and promised to help him get a flat under the MHADA housing scheme in Prabhadevi, reported PTI.
"The complainant transferred Rs 19.6 lakh to the accused over three years. However, despite repeated assurances, no flat was allotted to him. When he confronted the accused and demanded a refund, they refused to return the money and stopped responding to him," the official said, reported PTI.
The police are examining the financial trail and communication between the parties as part of their ongoing investigation, he said.
(With inputs from PTI)
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