Key Points
- Two NRI sisters lost Rs 1.9 crore in a cyber fraud incident in Lucknow.
- Scammers pretended to be Mumbai Crime Branch officers and digitally arrested the victims.
- The victims were forced to transfer money to avoid life imprisonment.
- The stolen money was moved across multiple bank accounts in four states.
- A similar scam recently targeted Femina Miss India 2017 winner Shivankita Dixit.
- Cybercrime police have frozen Rs 25 lakh and are investigating the case.
Looma News
Two NRI sisters, Suman Kakkar and Vinay Thapliyal, who were visiting India, were scammed out of nearly Rs 1.9 crore by fraudsters in Lucknow. The scammers pretended to be officers from the Mumbai Crime Branch and pressured the sisters into transferring the money under the threat of life imprisonment. They falsely claimed that the sisters’ bank accounts were involved in illegal activities.
The two women, who are Canadian citizens, were threatened through a video call by the scammers. The fraudsters convinced them that they would be caught in a serious money laundering case unless they transferred the money. They were told the only way to avoid arrest was to pay up, playing on their fear and panic.
The police have registered a case at the Cyber Crime Police Station in Lucknow. Investigators managed to freeze Rs 25 lakh from the transferred money. The stolen funds were moved through several bank accounts across four different states. Authorities are continuing their investigation to track down the culprits and recover the remaining money.
This incident is part of a growing number of “digital arrest” scams, where criminals impersonate law enforcement officers to extort money. Similar cases have been reported across India, including one where Femina Miss India 2017 winner Shivankita Dixit was tricked into transferring Rs 99,000 by fraudsters pretending to be CBI officers. Another case in Pune involved a 76-year-old doctor who lost Rs 28 lakh to the same type of scam.
