E-Paper
Chandigarh woman loses ₹9.5L to swindlers posing as enforcement officials
The fraudsters used a series of intimidation tactics, falsely accusing the victim of being involved in money laundering and human trafficking to extract money
A Maloya resident lost ₹9.5 lakh to swindlers posing as telecom and law enforcement officials, who accused her of being involved in money laundering and human trafficking, threatening her with arrest upon failure to cooperate.
The victim, Jyoti, alleged that she received a call on August 5. The caller identified as a representative of a telecom company, informing her that her SIM card was being blocked because another SIM had been issued in her name from Mumbai. She was told that messages harassing individuals had been sent from the second SIM.
Despite asserting that she had never been to Mumbai, Jyoti’s call was transferred to another individual who purported to investigate whether any other SIMs were linked to her IDs.
The fraudsters used a series of intimidation tactics, falsely accusing Jyoti of being involved in money laundering and human trafficking, along with a man named Ashok Gupta. They claimed that an arrest warrant had been issued in her name and warned that her family members, including her father and husband, could also be arrested due to an alleged bank data breach.
The swindlers pressured Jyoti to transfer ₹9.51 lakh to their account in lieu of helping clear her name. The fraudsters even created a fake website resembling the one being used by the Supreme Court to show false orders issued in her name.
Realising she had been duped, Jyoti reported the matter to the police. A case has been registered at the cyber crime police station under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
