HYDERABAD: A cybercriminal posing as a police officer cheated an 81-year-old retired government employee of Rs 59 lakh in a ‘digital arrest’ scam after claiming that a case had been registered against him at the Sircilla police station on charges of money laundering and human trafficking.
According to the victim, he received a WhatsApp call on December 4. The caller claimed that a person named Sadakat Khan from Uttar Pradesh had been arrested at Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, on November 2 in connection with overseas job fraud, money laundering and human trafficking. The caller further claimed that during interrogation, Khan had mentioned the victim’s name and sent a notice on a fake Supreme Court letterhead through WhatsApp.
The fraudster then demanded that the victim transfer money to a specific bank account to avoid arrest. Terrified, the octogenarian transferred Rs59 lakh over a span of three days. “I am an innocent senior citizen aged about 81 years, and I was unnerved by the threats,” he said.
Realising later that he had been duped, the victim approached the Hyderabad Cybercrime police, who registered a case and launched an investigation.