Fraudsters posing as cops extort Rs 64 lakh from septuagenerian

Hyderabad: Threatening to arrest a 72-year-old housewife from Moulali and her children in a fake case, fraudsters posing as Bengaluru police extorted 64 lakh from her after sending forged documents, including a fake letter from the Supreme Court. Malkajgiri police have registered a case and launched a probe.The complainant approached Malkajgiri Cyber Crime police on April 15, alleging that the fraudsters first contacted her on March 25. The caller identified himself as Gaurav Sarathi of Bengaluru Crime Branch and allegedly told her that her Aadhaar details had been misused to obtain SIM cards, which were used in various financial crimes. The victim was then made to speak to other fraudsters who also posed as Crime Branch officials.Police said the accused sent fake documents, including images of a debit card in the name of the victim, bank statements in her name, and a forged letter of the Supreme Court, falsely implicating her in various crimes. "They threatened to arrest me and also my children if I did not co-operate for their investigation. I was specifically told not to reveal the ongoing investigation to anyone in the family," the victim told police.Acting under fear, she transferred 64 lakh in four transactions between March 30 and April 6 to the bank accounts provided by the accused. Even as the victim exhausted the entire amount in her two bank accounts, the fraudsters kept asking her to transfer more funds. "I finally told my son about the entire episode of money transfers and realised that it was a fraud. On his advice, we filed a police complaint," the victim said.A case was registered under relevant sections of the BNS and the IT Act on Wednesday by Malkajgiri Cyber Crime police.