Police Inspector Saves Himself from Getting Scammed

Hyderabad: A scamster got an earful when he called up, without quite knowing it, a Madhapur inspector and tried to scam him.

Madhapur CCS inspector Vinayak Reddy told that on October 23, he got a WhatsApp call from a number starting with +92, with the display picture of a man dressed up as a police officer from Uttar Pradesh.

“When I first got the call, I knew it was some random call. I did not know that it was a scammer, but thought that it was some fake loan call. They called me thrice again and the fourth time, I picked it.”

He heard a “deep, male voice” introducing himself as an inspector with the Uttar Pradesh police. The scamster asked the cop for his name. “After I told him, he told me that my son was involved in a gang-rape case. Because I could sense that it was fake, I told them that I was unmarried,” Vinayak Reddy said. The scamster still did not know he was talking to a cop.

“He asked me to wait and then asked me if I had a younger brother, and if he had any children. When I told them that my younger brother had a son, he asked me my nephew’s name. I said a random name and they said he was police custody. They even made me talk to a boy who was crying and asking me for help, while addressing me as his uncle.”

The boy later asked Vinayak Reddy to send Rs.50,000 to a bank account, in order to get out of police custody. At this point, although Vinayak Reddy knew it was not true he still started panicking because of the pressure the scammers put on him.

“Later, the fake cop took over and told me that he would will send me a number to make the payment. He also told me that the faster I pay the money, the more will be the chances of my nephew not getting stuck in legal procedures,” the inspector said.

“That is when I broke it to him that I am a cop and I know that this is a scam and I will not be falling for it. He got scared and immediately disconnected,” the inspector said. He then checked up on the safety of his son and nephew.

No complaint was lodged because there was no loss of money.

Adding a word of caution, Vinayak Reddy said, “No matter how much they torture you, you must never send their money without verifying with your family members. Secondly, police will not call or ask for money to settle a case.”