The scam escalated when the caller claimed to transfer the call to cyber police. Dr. Esther denied knowledge of the parcel but was advised to file a police complaint. Later, the scammer, posing as a police officer, had a video call with Dr. Esther, showing the Mumbai police logo and alleging that fake bank accounts were opened in her name for funding terrorist activities.

According to the First Information Report (FIR), the accused went a step further by sending a letter to the complainant, claiming to be from the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Cyber) and bearing a forged signature of Navi Mumbai Commissioner, Milind Bharambe. In this letter, the complainant was informed about an upcoming correspondence from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Following this, the complainant received a message from an unknown phone number, supposedly from the RBI. This message included a code and instructed the complainant to deposit ₹6.8 lakh into a specific bank account to verify her various bank accounts, as per the official statement.

Following these instructions, the doctor transferred the mentioned amount to the specified bank account indicated in the letter. However, the accused then demanded an additional payment of ₹48,800, claiming it was for filing affidavits to clear her of any potential charges, according to official sources.

Realising she had been deceived, Dr. Esther reported the incident to the authorities. The case has been registered under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act.

-With agency inputs

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Published: 09 Mar 2024, 01:42 PM IST