Falling to a new tele-calling scam, a 31-year-old resident of Hyderabad lost Rs 11.20 lakh after fraudsters posing as TRAI officials.
Hyderabad cyber crime police said that the scam started when the victim received a call from an unknown number, claiming that the victim’s number was at risk of getting blocked as, allegedly, another SIM issued in the victim’s name is linked to a harassment case registered with the Mumbai police.
A Skype call from a fake Mumbai Police account followed to make the allegations seem legitimate.
Over the Skype call, the victim was threatened that his name and phone number were linked to Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal’s money laundering case. The scammers made the victim believe that arrest warrants and freezing orders had been issued against him.
The scammers told the victim not to disclose the allegation of the case to anyone. Under pressure with repeated calls, the terrorised victim transferred the sum of Rs 11.20 lakh to the fraudsters.
When the fraudsters demanded more money from the victim for flimsy reasons, he grew suspicious and shared the situation with his family, who encouraged him to report the incident to the cybercrime police.
Upon the victim’s complaint, the Hyderabad police registered a case and started the investigation. The police say that the modus operandi of instigating fear and confusion in individuals and manipulating them into fear to scam money is a recent pattern in the scam calls.
The Hyderabad cybercrime police urge citizens to think sharply and stay smart over suspicious calls. Double-checking the authenticity and identity of the callers using unknown numbers is advised.
Organisations such as TRAI, the police, or the RBI will never call over the phone for an inquiry. Any suspicious calls can be reported to the police at the toll-free number 1930 or +91 87126 65171.
