Fraudsters posing as Mumbai ATS officials cheat Hyderabad senior citizen

A 76-year-old retired bank manager from Cyberabad was duped of Rs 1.44 crore by cyber fraudsters posing as Mumbai ATS officials. The accused threatened him with a fake terror funding case and convinced him to transfer money to multiple bank accounts.

Hyderabad: Cyber fraudsters posing as officials of the Mumbai Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) duped a 76-year-old retired bank manager from the city to the tune of Rs 1.44 crore by allegedly threatening him with a fake terror funding case.

As per information available, the victim, a retired manager of a nationalised bank and a resident of the Cyberabad area, received a phone call from an unknown number on January 17. The caller introduced himself as an officer from the Mumbai ATS and claimed that an FIR had been registered against him for allegedly funding terrorist activities.

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Within minutes, the call was allegedly transferred to three other fraudsters who identified themselves as ATS investigation officers. They further accused the elderly man of being linked to international terrorist operatives and of misusing his bank account to facilitate the opening of multiple accounts connected to extremist activities.

Police said the fraudsters told him that in order to prove his innocence and have his name cleared from the purported case, he needed to verify his bank accounts as part of an official investigation. Fearing the consequences, he transferred Rs 1.44 crore in different transactions to various bank accounts provided by the suspects.

After receiving the money, the callers abruptly stopped responding and repeated attempts to contact them failed.

Based on a complaint, the Cyberabad Cybercrime police booked a case and are investigating.