In another cyber scam, 77-year-old woman from Bengaluru cheated of ₹1.2 crore

Posing as officials of the telecom and the Mumbai Crime Branch, cyber fraudsters intimidated a 77-year-old woman for almost 20 days before swindling a total of ₹1.2 crore.

Posing as officials of the telecom and the Mumbai Crime Branch, cyber fraudsters intimidated a 77-year-old woman for almost 20 days before swindling a total of ₹1.2 crore.

Lakshmi Shivakumar, a resident of R.T. Nagar, filed a complaint with the North Division Cyber Crime police recently, based on which the police have taken up a case against the accused, identified as Sandeep Rao and Akash Kulhari. They have been charged under various sections of the IT Act, 2000, and also for cheating under the Bharatiya Nyaya Samhita.

In her complaint, Ms. Shivakumar said that the incident occurred on June 26. She received a call from someone claiming to be from the Telecom Department, who told her that a SIM card had been purchased in her name in Mumbai and used for illegal activities.

The caller also informed her that as per protocol, the department filed a complaint with the Mumbai crime branch for further investigation, she said in her complaint.

Ms. Shivakumar claimed that a few hours later, Sandeep Rao and Akash Kulhari, claiming to be from the Mumbai Crime Branch, called to inform her that she was accused of laundering ₹60 crore. The duo subsequently demanded her bank account details and investment proofs for verification, failing which they threatened to arrest her for not cooperating with the investigation. The duo even showed a copy of an FIR and an arrest warrant issued by the Supreme Court, she said.

Ms. Shivakumar shared her details, following which the accused transferred ₹1,28,70,000 from her account citing that they would transfer it back after completing the investigation, said complaint.

After waiting for the completion of investigation, Ms. Shivakumar tried to contact them but the accused were not reachable. She discussed it with her family and friends who told her that she had been scammed and asked her to approach the police.