Hyderabad:A 70-year-old retired government employee from Hyderabad was allegedly duped of `38.73 lakh in a sextortion scam involving multiple impersonators and fabricated threats, according to a complaint registered with the Hyderabad cyber crime police on Wednesday.
According to police, the victim first received a friend request on Facebook from an unknown girl who claimed to be poor, saying her father had died and her mother worked as a tailor. During the conversation, she requested the victim to help with the installation of a WiFi connection and shared the number of an alleged cable operator.
Trusting the narrative, the victim paid `10,000 to the cable operator. Shortly after, the girl stopped responding to messages. Days later, the victim contacted the cable operator again, who claimed the girl was seriously ill and required `10 lakh for treatment. Believing the story, the victim paid the amount. The accused then obtained the victim’s Standard Chartered Bank credit card details and allegedly withdrew `2.65 lakh without his knowledge.
Later, two individuals posing as the cable operator’s mother and sister contacted the victim from the cable operator’s number and initiated conversations, including explicit chats. Then, the cable operator made a threat call, claiming that a police complaint would be filed against the victim for sexually exploiting the woman in the chat.
The victim was then contacted by a person claiming to be a police constable, who said a case had been registered and advised settling the matter by paying money to the girl’s family. Out of fear, the victim paid `12.5 lakh, citing it as payment for the girl’s education and for clearing her mother’s loan.
The impersonator, still posing as the constable, later demanded an additional `11 lakh, stating it was for the sub-inspector (SI) and himself to suppress the case. The victim complied. This was followed by another demand of `7.37 lakh, citing the arrival of a new SI who had to be paid to avoid arrest.
Most recently, the victim received another threat, allegedly from the girl’s grandfather, warning that a Pocso case would be filed unless he paid `6.5 lakh to the grandfather and `20 lakh to the police station SI. The criminals gave him time until June 25 to make the payment. In total, the victim stated he had transferred `38,73,150 to various individuals under threat and manipulation.
Cyber crime police have registered a complaint and are investigating. Officials urged the public not to accept social media friend requests from unknown persons, avoid sharing personal or financial information online, and report suspected cyber crime cases immediately by calling 1930 or lodging complaints at cybercrime.gov.in.
