Udupi: Woman loses Rs 19.71 lakh in online scam

Mangalore Today News Network

Udupi, November 27, 2024: A woman from Udupi was scammed out of Rs 19.71 lakh after fraudsters threatened her of misusing the SIM card taken in her name in Mumbai and using it for money laundering.

In her complaint, Vidya (53) said that she received a call on October 4 from an unknown individual who introduced himself as from Airtel and informed her that someone in Mumbai had purchased a SIM card using her Aadhaar number.

The caller stated that spam and trading messages were being sent from the SIM purchased in her Aadhaar number. As a result, all her mobile numbers would be blocked.

Later, the call was connected to Sahara Police Station. Subsequently, a person named Mohan Kumar claimed to be an investigation officer at Sahara Police Station informed Vidya that a bank account had been opened in her name at Mumbai SBI Bank using her Aadhaar card.

The fraudster SI informed her that the account was operated by Vivek Das, who had transferred the amount received through human trafficking and money laundering to the account. As the account was in her name, he informed her that all her accounts needed to be checked.

On October 5, Mohan Kumar called her again, posing as a police officer, and threatened Vidya that she would be arrested and asked her whereabouts. He warned that all her accounts would be frozen and instructed her to transfer the money from her account to a specified UPI number and bank accounts.

Following the instructions, the complainant transferred a total of Rs 19,71,679 in a phased manner from October 16 to November 7. When she failed to get back any response from the callers after transferring money, she realised that she had been duped.

Based on the complaint, a case has been registered at the CEN police station in Udupi under Sections 66(C), 66(D) of the IT Act, and Sections 308(6), 318(4) BNS.