Noida: 48-year-old woman loses ₹34L to cyber frauds

The woman was told that a parcel had been sent to Iran, and it contained five expired passports, two debit cards, two laptops, $900, and 200 gm MDMA drug, and it had her Aadhar copy as well

Noida: A 48-year-old woman was allegedly put under ‘digital arrest’ for a day and was duped to the tune of ₹34 lakh in Noida, said officers on Sunday, adding that ₹10 lakh have been recovered and returned to the victim.

The woman was directed to approach a bank and transfer ₹20 lakh plus her savings of ₹14 lakh using a cheque to a bank account provided by the frauds. (Representational image)

The victim, 48, who refused to be identified and a resident of Sector 41, is a project manager at an IT firm. On August 8 around 10am, someone called her from an unidentified number, alleging that a parcel containing illegal items had been returned to a parcel office in Mumbai, stated her online police complaint filed in August.

“I was told that a parcel had been sent from Mumbai to Iran, and it contained five expired passports, two debit cards, two laptops, $900, and 200 gm MDMA drug, and it had my Aadhar card copy too. I said that I did not send any parcel. But they said that they were routing my complaint to the police department,” reads the first information report (FIR) registered on Saturday.

“Later, another caller claiming to be a Narcotics department officer, called her up. Then her call was transferred to another number, saying that the Mumbai Crime Branch will probe the case,” said Vijay Gautam, station house officer, cybercrime branch.

“Later, the fraudsters connected with the victim through Skype, threatening her to cooperate or end up in jail. On the pretext of an investigation, the suspects gathered all financial details of the victim and forced her to take an instant pre-approved loan of ₹20 lakh,” the officer added.

The woman was then directed to approach a bank and transfer ₹20 lakh plus her savings of ₹14 lakh using a cheque to a bank account provided by them.

“As the money was transferred, the fraudsters disconnected all contact with her just when she realised that she fell into a trap,” said police, adding that a case under sections 308(2) (extortion), 319(2) (cheating by personation), and 318(4) (cheating) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita was registered at the Cyber Crime Branch police station on Saturday. Further investigation is underway.