Mumbai woman duped of ₹22 lakh by cyber fraudsters over 'spying for Pakistan

This is the first case in Mumbai of a cyber fraud using espionage as a guise to cheat people, an official claimed.

Cyber fraudsters posing as Delhi ATS and Jammu & Kashmir police personnel cheated an elderly woman from Mumbai of ₹22 lakh after accusing her of spying for Pakistan, officials said on Wednesday.

The 64-year-old woman, who lives at Girgaon in south Mumbai, approached South Region Cyber Police Station last week. (Representational Image)

This is the first case in the city of a cyber fraud using espionage as a guise to cheat people, an official claimed. The 64-year-old woman, who lives at Girgaon in south Mumbai, approached South Region Cyber Police Station last week.

As per her complaint, she received three calls earlier this month from unidentified numbers. The caller posed as "Delhi ATS (Anti-Terrorism Squad) officer Prem Kumar Gupta" and posted at "Jammu and Kashmir Border Police Station", the official said. He told the woman that a case was registered against her for sharing sensitive information with Pakistan, he said.

The fraudster then threatened her saying she would face 10-year imprisonment for espionage along with a fine of ₹50 lakh. He also shared a photo of his ID card with the woman on her phone to make her believe the claims, the official said.

Scared of arrest and other legal complications, the woman deposited ₹22.4 lakh in various bank accounts, which were provided by the fraudster between June 5 and 10, he said. The woman stopped getting the phone calls after she paid the money, and later realised she was cheated.

She lodged a complaint with the South Region Cyber police on June 13, based on which a case was registered against unidentified persons under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act, the official said.