Woman duped of ₹10 lakh; cyber crime cell bails her out

Cyber criminals are busy devising new ways to dupe people and get access to easy money

Cyber criminals are busy devising new ways to dupe people and get access to easy money. However, prompt action by the cyber crime cell of the Lucknow police saved a woman from getting duped of ₹10 lakh here on Wednesday.

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On Tuesday, the woman identified as Anita Pratap from Lucknow received a crank call wherein the caller told her that he was speaking on behalf of the Mumbai crime branch team officials. The caller further tried to trap her and said that her adhaar and Pan card was being used by some criminals in the illegal transportation of narcotics and other illegal items.

According to Anita, the fraudster even told her that an FIR under Prevention of Money Laundering Act and NDPS Act has been lodged against her with the Mumbai crime branch.

The man further asked her to transfer ₹10 lakh to a bank account for the withdrawal of the FIR.

“The individual went on to say that if she speaks with one of his senior officials, the case will be resolved. She immediately received a call from someone impersonating as a senior official who demanded ₹10 lakh in his bank account to settle the matter. The man also asked the victim not to call anyone else since her phone was being monitored,” said Aparna Rajat Kaushik, DCP, Central.

“The woman immediately transferred the money to the bank account number shared by the fraudster. However, after realising that she was duped, she lodged a complaint with the cyber crime cell of the Lucknow police on Tuesday,” said police in its press note.

“After the complaint, the said bank account was immediately frozen and ₹10 lakh was transferred to the victim’s bank account on Wednesday,” added DCP.

“After investigation, it was found that the bank account had ₹34 lakh as balance which was also frozen. The police have launched operation to nab the criminals and also trying to trace the other victims as well,” said the DCP.