Just days after the Kochi City police issued an advisory against the surging online scams revealing how nearly ₹25 crore had been cheated in about 400 cases since the start of 2024, the Ernakulam Rural police have now revealed that scamsters have cheated many victims of over ₹3 crore in recent times in a similar manner.
While nearly ₹2 crore had been cheated through fake promises by way of online investments and online trading, ₹1.15 crore had been cheated through a now-rampant modus operandi of impersonating as enforcement officials and threatening of impending incarceration. Interestingly, the majority of the victims have turned out to be well-educated people and experienced professionals.
A senior citizen from Aluva was duped into coughing up ₹1.15 crore by fraudsters by flashing a fake arrest warrant purportedly issued by the Supreme Court in a case registered by the Colaba police in Mumbai. One of the scamsters appeared on WhatsApp video call dressed up in the uniform of an enforcement official to pull off the fraud. He also flashed what had since emerged to be copies of a fake FIR and an arrest warrant.
The scamster demanded the victim to transfer the entire balance in his bank account to a specific account under the pretext of verifying his credentials. Funds were transferred in six separate transactions.
The victim shared the episode with an acquaintance only days after, by which time the scamsters had withdrawn the entire amount. The Ernakulam Rural police still managed to arrest six persons in the case, sources said.
Police advise caution
The police said no government agency ever demanded transfer of funds to verify credentials and urged people not to fall for similar ploys.
A resident of Kalady lost ₹50 lakh after he fell prey to an offer to make huge profits through online trading. He had invested after being approached by a fraudster masquerading as the Indian agent of an U.S. company. The rural cyber police, however, managed to recover ₹40 lakh and made six arrests in the case.
A high-ranking woman professional lost ₹45 lakh through a similar offer of online trading. The police have so far arrested three persons in this connection. Two residents of Kothamangalam and Aluva lost ₹33 lakh and ₹22 lakh respectively through online trading.
District Police Chief (Ernakulam Rural) Vaibhav Saxena has advised people not to make huge investments lured by the promise of huge promises.
Initially, the rackets pay small profit margins to win the trust of victims before showing exorbitant profits against their investments online. But when the victims try to withdraw the money, they are forced into coughing even more in some pretext or the other. Eventually, the scamsters disappear with the money without a trace, he said.
