Dahisar businessman duped of Rs 60,000 by scammers impersonating UK police

Cyber fraudsters using AI tools to impersonate UK police officers duped a businessman from Dahisar out of Rs 60000 The scammers threatened to arrest his son in a fabricated rape case and subsequently offered to hush up the matter in exchange for the moneyFearing for his sons safety the victim quickly arranged the money despite having no funds in his bank account He transferred Rs 60000 through Western Union Money Transfer to an account at Punjab National BankThe fraudsters continued to demand more money Realising he had been scammed the businessman rushed to the local police station and reported the incident to the duty officerFollowing instructions from senior officers the police notified the cyber department which swiftly froze the fraudsters bank accounts Although the money had already reached the account the prompt action taken by the police ensured that the scammers were unable to withdraw or transfer the fundsComplainant Praveen Patel resides in Dahisar with his family His 28yearold son works in London Patel who runs a tile business in Dahisar received a WhatsApp call from an unknown international number at around 10 AM today The caller inquired about his son and when Patel mentioned that his son was in London the caller introduced himself as a London police officer He claimed that the London police had arrested four individuals in connection with a rape case and that the accused had mentioned Patels son who was now allegedly in police custodyTerrified Patel asked to speak with his son but the caller refused Instead the caller demanded Rs 60000 to settle the matter When Patel agreed to pay the caller provided a bank account and instructed him to transfer the moneySpeaking with midday Patel says ldquoI went to a money transfer centre and initially sent Rs 5000 However the caller continued to ask for more money and subsequently transferred Rs 20000 In total over five transactions I transferred Rs 60000 to the provided account fearing for my sonrsquos safetyFinally the caller allowed me to speak with someone he sounded exactly like my son he was crying and speaking in Hindi pleading for the money When I asked to speak in Gujarati the call was abruptly disconnectedGrowing suspicious I ignored the next dozen calls from the caller I suddenly realized it was nighttime in London and my son would likely fall asleep I asked my daughter to call my sons number and when she did my sons phone rang confirming that he was indeed sleeping he saidThe caller reached out again I questioned why the London police officer was speaking Hindi The caller responded by claiming that my son had informed them that his father did not understand English so they had sought assistance from Indian police to communicate in Hindi he addedWhile my son was not picking up the phone the scammers continued to demand more money They asked for Rs15 lakh but eventually talked about settling the matter for Rs 75000 While still on the phone with them I went to Dahisar Police Station and handed the phone to the duty officer PSI Swapnil Shinde talked to the caller and asked him to speak with a London police officer but the caller immediately disconnected the call he saidHe promptly informed the cyber cell officer and Constable Shrikant Deshpande made some inquiries confirming that the account to which I had transferred the money had been frozen It was at that moment I realized that I had been a victim of cyber fraud I urge others to verify the authenticity of such calls before taking any action You could be at risk of falling prey to cyber fraudrdquoPeaking with midday PSI Swapnil Patil said had spoken to the complaint son he is fine and fit the call was made by the cyber fraud using such tactics for duping peopleSpread cyber awareness during the Ganpati festival by putting up cyber awareness banners at various Pandal On the instructions of senior officials we continuously arrange cyber awareness programs and also urge people to stay alert through news said senior inspector Ashok Honmane Dahisar police station