INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
BENGALURU: A 74-year-old retired government employee, who received a WhatsApp video call from a nude woman, lost Rs 35,000 to cybercriminals
He was threatened with a criminal case and forced to pay.Prashanth (name changed), a resident of KHB Colony in Yelahanka New Town, filed a
complaint with Yelahanka New Town police after the miscreants demanded Rs 4 lakh from him.On August 11 midnight, Prashanth received a
He attended the call to find a woman posing nude
A shocked Prashanth asked her who she was and as he didn't get a proper response, he disconnected the call and switched off his mobile phone
After three days, he received a call from an unknown number
The caller introduced himself as an officer from cybercrime, Delhi police.The caller told Prashanth that he had seen a woman nude in the
video call and a case had been registered based on the complaint filed by her
Prashanth tried explaining that he didn't make any phone call to the woman, but the caller claimed that he was recorded in the call
To evade arrest, Prashanth was asked to pay Rs 11,500
Later, the caller demanded Rs 23,000
Prashanth transferred Rs 34,500 to the bank account provided by the caller.Prashanth told police that he thought that he won't be troubled
But he again received calls from the same number on Wednesday
This time the caller informed him that the woman had killed herself
She took the extreme step because he had seen her nude, the caller said, adding that Prashanth could be in more trouble
The caller demanded Rs 4 lakh to drop the charges against him
That's when Prashanth decided to approach police
When Prashanth was at the station , the miscreant called him again and the officer at the station attended the call
No more calls have come since.An officer said: "Such calls are rigged
The woman on the call is actually a recorded video played automatically
The fraudsters operate from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and other states."Acting on Prashanth's complaint, police have registered a case
under the Information Technology Act
