A South Mumbai resident lost Rs. 4.35 crore to a cyber fraudster who falsely claimed that the person was eligible for a PF corpus of Rs. 11 crore.
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A senior resident of South Mumbai fell victim to a cyber fraudster, losing approximately Rs 4.35 crore, who falsely claimed that the individual was eligible for a Provident Fund (PF) corpus of Rs 11 crore, according to local police reports on Thursday.
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The incident was uncovered when the 71-year-old man's spouse approached the Cuffe Parade police station and registered a formal complaint with authorities, PTI reported.
According to the report, the complainant relayed in her statement that in May of this year, she received a phone call from an individual purporting to represent the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). To gain the victim's trust, the caller offered detailed information about the complainant's husband.
The caller further asserted that the husband's former employer, a well-known Information Technology (IT) services and consulting firm, had deposited Rs 4 lakh into his EPF account over a 20-year period, entitling him to a maturity amount of Rs 11 crore, the report quoted officials saying.
In an attempt to secure this payout, the caller instructed the complainant to transfer funds for the payment of TDS (Tax Deducted at Source), GST (Goods and Services Tax), and income tax. Believing the caller, the complainant dutifully transferred money into specified bank accounts as instructed on multiple occasions, officials told PTI.
As a result, the fraudulent caller successfully defrauded a couple of Rs 4.35 crore over several transactions conducted between May and September. When the caller continued to demand more funds, the couple eventually disclosed their inability to provide further finances, the official was quoted as saying.
In response, the caller began to threaten to report the matter to the Income Tax department. Upon realizing they had been scammed, the elderly couple promptly sought assistance from law enforcement, filing an official complaint on Tuesday.
According to the report, after the complaint was filed, local authorities initiated a first information report (FIR) under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 384 (extortion), 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) and various sections of the I-T Act, including identity theft. A thorough investigation into the case is currently in progress.
With PTI inputs
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