Criminals impersonate as Mumbai police via video call and extort Rs33 lakh
By : P.V. Prasad
Update: 2024-09-19 18:45 GMT
Kurnool: Sri Sathya Sai district police arrested six cybercriminals following a complaint involving extortion of Rs 33 lakh from a victim, according to SP V. Ratna.
The incident happened when a man, disguised in a Mumbai police uniform, made a WhatsApp video call to Dr. T. Suryanarayana Reddy, a doctor from Dharmavaram and the impersonator threatened him with arrest, claiming that a person named Naresh Goyal had taken a loan of Rs 500 crore from Canara Bank and deposited a portion in the doctor's account, demanding a commission of Rs 20 lakh.
The criminal threatened to arrest Dr Reddy and his family if he did not pay Rs 33 lakh.
Frightened, Dr Reddy paid Rs 20 lakh and Rs 13 lakh in two installments to an account at MANGAMADDELA ENTERPRISES (OPC) PRIVATE LIMITED provided by the scammers.
After discovering that he had been deceived, Dr Reddy contacted Naresh Goyal to verify the deposit and subsequently reported the fraud to Dharmavaram police.
Cyber crime inspector M. Timmareddy and his team utilised technology to apprehend the criminals. The SP said that the funds deposited by Dr Reddy would be recovered soon as the accused had used various people to open bank accounts and commit the cybercrimes.