The Kochi City police have issued an advisory asking the public to be on the guard against fraudsters impersonating as officers of law enforcement agencies and getting in contact with people asking for money in the guise of saving them from crimes, which they never committed.
The advisory comes in the wake of a spurt in such cheating cases by fraudsters posing as officials from the police, Narcotics Control Bureau, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, Central Bureau of Investigation, Enforcement Directorate, and the cyber cell. Recently, the Ernakulam Rural cyber police had busted a racket that reportedly cheated a 63-year-old resident of Aluva of ₹1.15 crore by threatening him of arrest warrants against him by the Supreme Court.
Fraudsters adopt many ploys to cheat victims. A commonly noticed modus operandi was of contacting potential victims saying that drugs were recovered from their parcels or that in a raid conducted in another case their Aadhaar card or credit card was found. In some cases, fraudsters even claim to have proof of the targeted person’s browsing history related to pornography. Fraudsters may get in touch through texts, e-mail, or over phone call, the advisory warned.
Where the targeted person is threatened of a case, fraudsters even flash the fake identity credentials of the enforcement agency which they claim to be from and also details of the fake case. The ID proof will be a forged copy of a real officer with the agency concerned. So, when searched, the web throws up the name of the officer and this convinces the targeted person.
At the next stage, fraudsters compel victims to come over video calls through platforms like Skype where they will appear in the uniform of the agency concerned. They will then intimidate victims saying that they had committed a grave offence and that they have been virtually arrested.
Fraudsters then inquire about the personal details and information on the potential victim’s financial status. Victims are then asked to transfer a sizeable amount to specific bank accounts with the assurance that it will be refunded once their source of income is verified. Once the money is transferred, fraudsters cut off further communication.
“People across the State have lost lakhs in this manner. A resident of Ernakulam lost ₹1.20 crore by complying with instructions from fraudsters who claimed were from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. Another person was cheated of ₹30 lakh by fraudsters impersonating as from the Mumbai police. The probability of recouping the money is high provided the fraud is alerted on the helpline number 1930 within an hour of losing the money,” the advisory said.
It added that the enforcement agencies could freeze any suspicious bank accounts legally and never ask for transferring funds in any manner.
