David P. Mathew and his wife Shirley, residents of Kizhakkeel House, Mallappally, had just returned from Abu Dhabi to their hometown in Kerala. Little did they anticipate a disaster waiting to happen.

Online fraudsters posing as Mumbai Crime Branch officials threatened them of arrest, saying the couple was involved in serious offences such as child pornography and money laundering. The scammers said that in order to evade arrest, Mathew and Shirley had to pay bail money as they were under ‘virtual arrest’. The senior couple was warned not to speak to anyone about this.

After repeated threats and fearing legal action, the couple transferred Rs. 90.50 lakh in multiple instalments. The scammers harrassed them even more and so the couple transferred another Rs. 50 lakh. Mathew and Shirley were about to transfer an additional Rs. 38 lakh when the Federal Bank staff became suspicious and alerted the police.

When the police intervened, they found that the couple had already lost more than Rs 1.40 crore in the ‘virtual arrest’ cyber scam. Cyber Cell investigation revealed that the money was routed through multiple mule accounts.

Whether the fraudsters would be nabbed remains to be seen.

The police has alerted the public to report to them when such instances of threats and suspicious demands arise, resulting in dreadful consequences. – editor@nrifocus.com