MUMBAI: A 36-year-old woman lawyer from Andheri (East) was made to strip naked on video call and transfer Rs 50,000 to scammers impersonating the cyber police recently.
The fraudsters first threatened her with arrest in a money laundering case, to avoid which she was made to check into a Powai hotel and electronically transfer the money.
She was told she had to be at an isolated place for the “confidential inquiry” and video-inspected without clothes by a woman officer for “weapons and injury marks”.
The woman realised she had been duped and approached the Powai police station when she continued receiving messages for more money along with her nude pictures even after the incident.
Officers at the Powai police station said the victim was at a mall in Powai on Wednesday afternoon when she received the call saying there was an FIR against her.
She was told she was suspected of involvement in a case related to Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal, who had been arrested by the ED and is out on bail.
A police officer said the lawyer removed her clothes in the hotel room as she was made to believe it was a routine check to ascertain a suspect’s identity.
“She started receiving messages and calls for more money some time after she narrated the entire ordeal to her husband later in the day,” a police officer said.
Victim’s nude pics used for blackmail bid
The officer said she did not respond to the calls and messages, after which the scammers sent her her nude photographs as a blackmail tactic.
“They sent her pictures of her without clothes that they had recorded while she was made to strip under the pretext of checking whether she had weapons and injury marks on her body, which the scammers had said were the identification marks on the suspect’s record,” the officer said.
The call at the mall was from a person claiming to be from TRAI who said her SIM card had been used in a laundering case and would be blocked.
The victim said in her complaint: “I was informed that I had to get clearance from the cops to stop SIM deactivation.
“I was then connected to a person posing as a police officer from the Andheri cyber cell, who claimed that an FIR had been registered against me and that I was going to be arrested.
“The fake police officer instructed me to go to an isolated place for a confidential inquiry. Fearing the worst, I checked into a hotel room in Powai.”
The victim said she complied under duress when she was told to stand naked and to transfer Rs 50,000 to a bank account.
The FIR said: “Before leaving, the scammer warned the victim not to reveal anything about the confidential inquiry to anyone.”
A police officer said they had sought details of the bank account from the nodal officer of the bank where the scammers made the victim transfer the money.
“The bank was also told to block the account. Meanwhile, the cyber team is tracking the details of the bank account holder,” the officer said.
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