N*de Call: 74-year-old retired employee loses money

Lately, cybercriminals have displayed a higher level of sophistication, devising various fraudulent schemes to exploit innocent people. In a recent incident, a retired 74-year-old employee in Bengaluru fell victim to one such cyber scam.

As per reports, on the midnight of August 11th, the man received a WhatsApp video call from an unidentified woman who was undressed. Despite his inquiries about her identity, the woman remained silent, prompting him to terminate the call and power off his mobile. Several days later, he received a call from an unfamiliar number, with the caller identifying himself as a cybercrime officer from Delhi.

During the call, the caller informed Prashanth that he had supposedly witnessed a nude woman during a video call. Allegedly, a legal case had been initiated in response to a complaint filed by the woman. Prashanth attempted to clarify that he had not made any call to the woman in question. However, the caller insisted that there existed recorded evidence of his participation in the call. In order to evade potential arrest, Prashanth was coerced into making a payment of Rs 11,500. Subsequently, the demands escalated, and the caller now demanded Rs 23,000. Consequently, Prashanth transferred a total of Rs 34,500 to the bank account provided by the caller.

Later on, the caller, who purported to be an officer, raised the stakes by demanding Rs 4 lakh to drop the charges against him. This raised suspicion for Prashanth, prompting him to approach the police for assistance.