HYDERABAD: After ‘drug parcels’ and ‘digital arrests’, cyber criminals have pulled out a new weapon to loot people – the 2019 Pulwama terror attack.
In one such case, a Hyderabad-based IT professional was recently robbed of Rs 2 lakh by fraudsters who threatened her with seven years in jail if she failed to oblige.
They claimed that her accounts had links to perpetrators of the deadly Pulwama attack that had claimed the lives of 44 CRPF personnel as an explosives-laden vehicle crashed into the vehicle ferrying them.
Police said the 29-year-old living in Gachibowli first received a call from an unknown number a few days ago. The caller claimed a parcel addressed to her was returned to Mumbai FedEx office as it was suspected to be illegal. He also claimed her Aadhaar and phone number was used to send it from Mumbai to Singapore.
Fraudsters threaten woman with PMLA case over ‘terror link’
When the complainant claimed that she does not belong to Mumbai and lives in Hyderabad, the caller directed her call to the ‘Mumbai crime branch’, where she was asked to produce her Aadhaar card details.
The fraudsters pretended to have contacted the ‘Aadhaar Card department’, and that the latter had confirmed that her Aadhaar ID was linked to multiple bank accounts across India involved in money laundering,” the official said.
Not only did the fraudsters claim that an MLA was involved in the laundering case, but they also got the complainant worked up by saying that those accounts were linked to terror funding – including the Pulwama attack.
“They then shared multiple documents with her stating she was involved in money laundering and other illegal activities and threatened her with seven years in prison and a fine of ₹20 lakh if she did not cooperate with their investigation,” the cop said.
Cyberabad police have registered a case and started an investigation.
“Preliminary probe has revealed that the victim transferred money to two accounts that have been traced to Mumbai and Delhi,” said a cop from Cyberabad.
The cyber crime police urged people to be alert about criminals trying different ploys to loot.
“People should be very careful and not respond to such threatening calls from fraudsters. Police or any such agency will not conduct an investigation on Skype or WhatsApp. We urge people to report any such calls to the cyber crime helpline or to their nearest police station and prevent any money loss,” urged ACP (cyber crime, Cyberabad) B Ravindra Reddy.
