Mumbai: Senior citizen duped of Rs 3 lakh by cyber fraudster by aping voice

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A 63-year-old man was cheated of Rs 3 lakh by an unidentified cyber fraudster who spoke to him on phone posing as a friend of his son and mimicking his voice, police said on Tuesday, reported news agency PTI.

The incident took place on March 2, but the case was registered on Monday afternoon at Bhandup police station in the eastern suburbs, reported PTI.

The complainant has two daughters and a son and all the three live abroad, a police official said.

On March 2, he received a voice call on WhatsApp from an unidentified number, and the cyber fraudster identified himself as Vikas Gupta, a friend of his son who lives in Canada, reported PTI.

As the victim knew Vikas Gupta since childhood and the caller's voice resembled Gupta's, the victim trusted him, reported PTI.

The caller then started crying, saying he was in trouble and needed money immediately.

The victim transferred Rs 2 lakh to the caller's account and also asked his two friends to deposit Rs 50,000 each, reported PTI.

When the cyber fraudster again demanded money, he sensed that something was fishy and made a video call to the caller which was not answered, the police official said, reported PTI.

The complainant then found out that Gupta had never made any such call.

On March 3, he filed an online complaint, but due to illness, he did not go to police station on the same day. The case was registered on Monday and further probe was on, the official said.

In another case, two persons, including a 60-year-old man, were arrested for allegedly kidnapping a college lecturer and trying to extort money on the pretext of a fake murder case, a Mumbai police official said on Monday, reported PTI.

Manoj Dashrath Gupta (60) and Mulayam Birbal Yadav (27) approached Sagar Suresh Fadnavis (44) on Saturday night and told him a murder case was registered against him in Borivali police station, the official said, reported PTI.

"The duo called the victim for interrogation. They made him sit in an autorickshaw and started robbing him. However, constable Parmeshwar Chavhan, who was passing by, saw the incident. He blocked the autorickshaw, spoke to the victim and brought Gupta and Yadav to Kandivali police station," he said, reported PTI.

"Gupta, who has some 20 cases against his name, and Yadav were arrested under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 365 (kidnapping), 389 (putting person in fear or accusation of offence to commit extortion), 170 (personating a public servant), the official said.

(With inputs from PTI)