In a shocking incident, a doctor working at a civic-run hospital in Mumbai was tricked by a cyber-scam and lost ₹7.33 lakh to a con artist posing as a Mumbai police officer. Initially, the fraudster pretended to be from a courier company and informed a 27-year-old female doctor, Dr. Blessy Esther, that authorities at Mumbai airport had intercepted a package that belonged to her. Allegedly, the package included passports, credit cards, drugs, clothes, and a laptop.
The scam intensified when the caller mentioned transferring the call to the cyber police. The doctor denied knowledge of the parcel but was advised to file a police complaint. Then the fraudster, posing as a police officer, had a video call with Dr. Blessy, showing the Mumbai police logo and alleging that fake bank accounts were opened in her name for funding terrorist activities.
As per the First Information Report (FIR), the fraudster went a step further by sending a letter to the doctor, claiming to be from the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Cyber) and bearing the fake signature of Navi Mumbai Commissioner, Milind Bharambe. In this letter, Dr. Blessy was informed about an upcoming correspondence from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
After this, Dr. Blessy received a message from an unknown phone number, apparently from the RBI. As per the official statement, this message involved a code and instructions to deposit ₹6.8 lakh into a specific bank account to verify her different bank accounts.
After getting these instructions, Dr. Blessy transferred the mentioned amount to the specified bank account, which was noted in the letter. Although the fraudster then demanded an additional payment of ₹48,800, claiming it was for filing affidavits to clear her of any potential charges.
Upon realizing she had been duped, Dr. Blessy reported the incident to the authorities. The case has been filed under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Information Technology Act.
(Input from various sources)
(Rehash/Komal Bhoi/MSM)
