How an elderly woman scammed off Rs 1.2 crore? Read on

In recent months, a spurt in organised cybercrimes is being witnessed across India. Cyber criminals were earlier targeting everyone and now they seem to have changed their target. Now, cases of senior citizens getting duped by these fraudsters are on the rise. 

Recently, a 77-year-old Bengaluru woman was robbed off Rs. 1.2 crore in an online scam. The victim identified as Lakshmi Shivakumar approached the city crime branch to file a complaint against the unknown scamsters. 

According to reports, the elderly woman received a phone call from someone who claimed to be an employee of the Telecom Department. The impostor accused her of indulging in illegal activities using a SIM card in her name in Mumbai and claimed a complaint had been filed with the Mumbai crime branch against her. 

Subsequently, Shivakumar started receiving a series of phone calls from individuals falsely claiming to be officials from Mumbai Crime Branch. They accused her of money laundering involving a substantial sum of Rs. 60 crore and asked her to share details like her bank accounts and investments. They also told her she would be arrested if she failed to comply. They showed her forged documents, including a purported FIR and Supreme Court arrest warrant to convince her. 

Meanwhile, the scammers transferred a substantial sum of Rs. 1,28,70,000 from her bank account. They assured her that the debited money would be deposited in her account following the completion of the investigation. The Bengaluru woman complied with the scammers and waited for the investigation to complete. Later, she tried to contact them, but they were not reachable and she realised that she had been scammed and filed a police complaint. 

As the cybercrimes involving money matters are on the rise, you can follow these safety tips to avoid falling into the scammers traps: 

• Do not share personal or financial information with unknown callers
• Do not click on suspicious links forwarded by known or unknown callers
• Upon receiving a call from alleged officials, try to verify the authenticity of the caller through official resources
• It is advisable to install security software on your devices and keep your devices protected with updated antivirus and anti-malware software
• Keep following the news about the latest cyber threats and scams
• Use complex passwords and do not use same passwords for all online accounts
• Keep checking your financial transactions and messages from your banks 

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