CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu cyber crime police have issued an advisory about a scam wherein fraudsters contact people and claim that if they do not pay them money, their children could get arrested by a central agency for serious crimes.
According to a press release, the fraudster initiates contact with elderly people through a phone call, claiming to be a government official. They claim that the victims’ son or daughter has been involved in a serious crime and could get arrested. The fraudster then demands immediate payment from the victim to resolve the fabricated crisis. The victim in fear makes the payment to the cyber fraudster. The scammer then instructs the victim to not contact anyone.
Recently in Chennai, a man received a call saying that his daughter was arrested for money laundering. The caller demanded `40,000 or risk his daughter’s identity being revealed to the media. However, the victim confirmed that his daughter was home through his friend’s phone and cut the call. He received another call, following which he immediately lodged a police complaint.
Modus operandi
The fraudster initiates contact with elderly people through phone, claiming to be a government official. They claim that the victims’ son or daughter is involved in serious crime and could get arrested. The fraudster then demands payment from the victim to resolve the fabricated crisis