KOCHI: Having tried their luck with the CBI, ED and the police, cyber fraudsters are now impersonating traffic police personnel to siphon off money from people.
In a recent incident, an 80-year-old Panampilly Nagar resident lost Rs 30 lakh after he was approached by a cyber fraudster posing as a Bengaluru traffic police inspector.
It was on November 22 that the victim received a WhatsApp call from an unknown number. When he responded, the caller was introduced as a woman inspector with the Bengaluru traffic police.
“The victim was told that a video call would be made by her senior officer as part of the investigation into an accident case. Later, another person wearing a traffic police uniform asked the victim whether he had a Karnataka-registered car.
When the victim denied owning any such car, the person said a car was involved in a serious accident under Jayanagar police station limits in Bengaluru. The car was taken for rent using the name and address of the victim. When the victim denied taking any car on rent, he was asked to give the Aadhaar card details,” a police officer said.
Without realising the fraud, the man divulged his Aadhar card number. Thereafter, he was threatened further by the impersonator. The victim was told to appear at the Jayanagar traffic police station as part of the investigation. When the victim conveyed his inconvenience to reach Bengaluru, the fraudsters decided to complete the procedure through a video call.
“Claiming that they have verified the Aadhaar card details, the fraudster claimed that the victim was a person wanted in overseas recruitment fraud to the tune of `30 crore, probed by CBI and ED in New Delhi. When the victim claimed that he was innocent, he was told to cooperate with the investigation online,” the officer said.
Later, the man was asked to get his bank accounts verified as part of the investigation to prove his innocence and to transfer money to accounts given by the fraudster in Karnataka, Maharastra, Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir.
“The victim was told that after verification, the money would be returned to him. However, after waiting for a week, the money was not returned. When the victim tried to contact the accused, they did not respond,” the police officer said.
The victim then approached the Ernakulam South police which registered a case and launched an investigation.