Cyber fraud: 35-year old woman outsmarts scamsters posing as telecom officials, escapes con

The fraudsters made threats and used fake documents to seek sensitive information. Representation pic

Cyber fraudsters attempted to scam a housewife from Dahisar by posing as officials from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). Later claiming to be Mumbai Cyber Crime officers, they threatened her with arrest during a video call and asked for her Aadhar card and bank details.

According to the police, the 35-year-old woman remained composed and questioned the legitimacy of conducting an inquiry over a video call. She demanded their office address and insisted that any investigation be conducted in person at their office.

"The victim is a housewife residing with her father at Kajupada Borivli East. Last month, she received a computerised call from an unknown number claiming to be a TRAI officer. The caller claimed that her phone service would be disconnected and instructed her to press ‘1' to keep it active. Trusting the instructions, the woman complied," said a police officer.

"Subsequently, a man on the line posed as a telecom authority employee and began questioning her. He alleged that her Aadhaar card number had been misused in September and that there were complaints of 15 suspicious calls being made from her registered number. He warned that her phone service would be deactivated as a result," said the officer.

"When the woman denied sharing her Aadhaar card with anyone, the scammer escalated the situation. He claimed that the matter was a cybercrime and that Mumbai Crime Branch officials were handling it. Introducing himself as a Mumbai Crime Branch officer, he instructed her to remain on the line to prevent her service from being disconnected," said the officer.

"The fraudster then demanded that the woman send her Aadhaar card and a photograph. He accused her of being involved in a large-scale bank scam worth crores of rupees, threatening that she would face two years in jail if she informed anyone about the investigation. To make the scam appear legitimate, he sent her photos of individuals on WhatsApp, asking her to identify them and demanding details about her bank accounts," said the officer.

"Sensing something suspicious, the woman questioned why the investigation could not be conducted in person at the police station instead of over a video call. When she insisted on meeting the police, the scammer abruptly disconnected the call," said the officer.

The woman reported the incident to the Dahisar police station. The police have registered a case and further investigation is underway.

35
Age of the victim