An elderly woman in Hyderabad was duped of Rs. 5.60 crore by cyber criminals who posed as Bombay police officers and told her that she was involved in a money laundering case related to Shilpa Shetty and her husband, Raj Kundra. They told her to transfer Rs. 5.60 crore to “public fund accounts”. The fraud came to light when the lady informed her son.
The Telangana Cyber Security Bureau registered a criminal case based on a complaint filed by the son. The complainant said, his mother had received a WhatsApp call on July 26 from a person claiming to be a Bombay police officer. The caller told the woman that she was involved in a money laundering case related to Shilpa and Raj and described it as a “national security emergency”. He said, an FIR had been registered against her and an account had been opened in Bombay’s Canara Bank, using her Aadhar card, for “suspicious transactions”.
The woman was allegedly threatened with arrest unless she cooperated by transferring her funds to “public fund accounts” of the Reserve Bank of India for inspection. Over several days, she was coerced into transferring Rs. 5.60 crore through nine transactions. She was forced to close her fixed deposits and Public Provident Fund account for making the payments.
The lady was asked not to disclose the information to anybody as it was a matter of national security. Her son filed the complaint as soon as the woman confided in him.