A 28-year-old city resident was duped of ₹3 lakh in a cybercrime, wherein the mastermind impersonated a senior IPS officer using artificial intelligence (AI), accused the woman of being involved in a money laundering case, confined her to a video call for four hours without even a toilet break and got her to transfer the funds on the pretext of checking its source, police said.
The victim, a resident of a condominium in Sector 69, received the call around 11am on January 5. An FIR was registered at the cybercrime police station (south) on Wednesday, following an inquiry.
According to details shared by the police, the woman first received a call from a person claiming to be an official of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) informing her that a SIM card issued on her ID proof in Mumbai was used to harass a woman by sending obscene messages.
“He informed me that a case was registered at Govandi police station in Mumbai and investigation was on against me. He transferred by call to another suspect impersonating a police officer from the station. The officer threatened me by explaining possible ramifications of the legal trouble I was in. I got jittery when he said my existing number will be blocked,” she said.
The victim said that the call continued for an hour after which the officer shared a web-based software ID and asked her to get on a video chat. “Here on, they asked me to remain confined to my room, not to contact anyone or even move for the toilet. This call continued for three hours,” she said.
“A senior IPS officer, whom I had seen in YouTube videos, appeared. He asked me to wait, on the pretext of background verification. He said that if there was only one case, I would be let off. However, he mentioned there was another case against me in which a debit card issued in my name was used to launder money in a case pertaining to an airways,” she said.
A senior police officer said the suspects provided her a web link, which had case details and her name mentioned in the case, as well as court proceedings.
“They had her Aadhaar card details, which convinced her. They ended the video call with instructions to report every eight hours. The suspects used AI to morph face to impersonate a real officer,” the officer said.
“She later browsed the Internet to find that a Noida man was also cheated by the same modus operandi. She later rang 1930 (national helpline) to report the fraud,” the officer said.
Priyanshu Dewan, assistant commissioner of police, said they were able to freeze ₹92,000 of the total. “The suspects will be arrested soon,” he said.
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