KOCHI: Extortion by cyber fraudsters posing as cyber police or officers of other enforcement agencies is on the rise in the state. With numerous such cases being reported at various cyber police stations, police have asked the public to be cautious.
In a recent case reported in Thrissur last month, a 75-year-old lost Rs 7.45 lakh after fraudsters posed as the chief of Delhi police cyber crime wing threatened to file a case against the victim alleging that the person circulated porn videos on social media. The Villadam native initially received a call in June.
“The caller introduced himself as an officer of the cyber crime wing of the Delhi police. He then claimed that he found the victim uploaded a porn video of a child on Youtube that he received on his WhatsApp. The fraudster said the child seen in the video has committed suicide,” a police officer said.
The threat continued for the next several days and the victim was told that the Delhi police will soon register a case arraigning the victim as an accused. “Later, the complainant started receiving calls from more unidentified numbers. The people who called the victim introduced themselves as an officer of the Delhi Police cyber crime wing, the SHO of a police station in New Delhi and even a representative of YouTube. The accused made the victim believe that there was indeed a probe going on against him,” said the officer.
The calls continued for four days and finally, the fraudsters told the victim that they won’t register a case against the victim if he pays an amount. By that time, the victim was already under severe pressure and agreed to the demands. Thus he transferred Rs 7.45 lakh to the accounts given by the accused persons. Later, when the victim and his relatives checked the details of the numbers from which he received calls, they found the contacts to be bogus. The victim then approached the police.
Ernakulam Rural cyber police SHO M B Latheef said a lot of such cases are being reported across the state. “One of the regular methods adopted by these swindlers is to befriend the victims through Instagram. When the friendship deepens, they tell the victim that he has sent a courier containing valuables gifts. Later, the victim will receive a call from a person posing as a customs official claiming that the parcel in the victim’s name contains gold, drugs or currencies. Later, they extort money from the victim threatening to register a case of smuggling,” he said. If anyone receives such calls, instead of panicking try to verify the caller, said the officer.