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Conman poses as Keanu Reeves, 69-yr-old Mumbai woman believes it, loses ₹65,000
The woman had reportedly shared sensitive documents such as photos of her bank passbook, deposit slip, passportwith the conman who posed as Keanu Reeves.
A 69-year-old woman in Maharashtra's Mumbai was allegedly duped of ₹65,000 by a conman who posed as Hollywood actor Keanu Reeves and convinced her that he needed money to book a flight ticket to India to meet her.
The victim is a resident of Mumbai’s Versova and stays alone. A First Information Report (FIR) was filed into the matter against the unknown person on Monday by the victim’s daughter, who lives in London, reported Indian Express.
The accused was reportedly in touch with her through the Telegram app.
What the FIR says
According to the FIR, the 69-year-old woman was allegedly manipulated by the conman that she was talking to actor Keanu Reeves by gaining her trust. The victim’s daughter, who lives in London, only came to know about what had happened after she noticed a notification of NEFT transaction of ₹65,000 made to an unknown person in Dehradun on June 30, according to the report. She flew to Mumbai to file the FIR.
This was possible since the daughter had access to her mother's emails due to the latter’s deteriorating mental health condition.
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When the daughter asked the woman whom she sent the money to, she said she had sent it to a friend, the FIR stated.
“Subsequently, as she sought more details, her mother told her that she has been in touch with Hollywood actor Keanu Reeves and his close associate through social media and that he had sought the Indian currency to book flight tickets to visit her in India,” said the FIR, according to the IE report.
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After seeking more details from her mother, the daughter found more chats between her and the accused. The woman had reportedly shared sensitive documents such as photos of her bank passbook, deposit slip, passport, and more with the conman and another person posing as the Reeves’ associate.
The victim also had a number saved on her phone with the name ‘Keanu Reeves’, who she would chat with and who made her believe that the bank had stolen the money, according to the complaint.
The victim also reportedly mentioned that she would sell her jewellery to arrange the money.
“Screenshots from the Telegram (app) reveal that the scammer persistently attempted to brainwash the victim, creating distrust toward her family members and encouraging her to isolate herself from them,” the complaint read.
A case has been filed under relevant sections including Information Technology Act’s sections 66C (identity theft) and 66D (cheating by personation using computer resource), and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita’s (BNS) Section 318(4) (criminal offences of cheating).
