By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 6 Mar: In a shocking case of cyber fraud, a 71-year-old retired woman, Suman Samuel, was tricked into transferring Rs 20.41 lakh to fraudsters who posed as CBI officers and a judge. The fraudsters kept her under psychological pressure for two days, forcing her to stay on a continuous video call, isolating her from any outside contact.
Suman Samuel, a resident of Elna Cottage, Sahastradhara Road, filed an FIR at the Cyber police station on March 5. She stated in FIR that, she lives alone and is battling kidney disease. She undergoes dialysis every alternate day at Max Hospital. On February 26, after returning from her dialysis session, she received a WhatsApp video call from a number claiming to be “Colaba Police Station.” On the call, a man dressed in a police uniform introduced himself as Deepak Sharma, a Surveillance Officer from the CBI, she said. He falsely accused her of being involved in money laundering, child trafficking, and drug cases, stating that a SIM card registered in her name was used in these crimes. After sometime another fraudster, posing as an IPS officer Pradeep Sawant, joined the call and pressured her into believing that her name was linked to an FIR in Mumbai. The criminals even showed her fake Supreme Court documents, police records, and a “Confidentiality Agreement” to stop her from informing anyone. They introduced a fake judge named Sanjeev on a video call. The so-called judge told Samuel that she could clear her name only if she cooperated and transferred 99% of her bank balance for investigation. Under extreme pressure and fear of arrest, she visited UCO Bank, Rajpur Branch, and transferred Rs 20.41 lakh to a fraud account at YES Bank on February 27.
Luckily, her attempt to transfer Rs 15.18 lakh from her SBI account failed as she did not carry extra cash for transaction charges. Meanwhile, her daughter sensed something was wrong when Samuel refused to talk properly. She alerted a neighbor, who rushed to Samuel’s house, found her still on the video call, and cut off the connection. Then she realised it was a scam, she immediately reported the fraud to the Cyber Crime Police Station, Dehradun, through an online complaint. Cybercrime officials are now investigating the case. They have warned citizens to stay cautious and never share personal or financial details over the phone. “Government agencies like CBI, police, or courts do not demand money or conduct investigations over phone calls. If anyone receives such a call, they should immediately report it to the cyber cell,” a senior officer stated.
