A 63-year-old Mumbai resident was cheated of Rs 3 lakh by an unidentified cyber fraudster, the police said on Wednesday. The victim received a phone call in which the fraudster posed as a friend of his son and mimicked his voice, they added.
According to the police, the incident took place on March 2, but the case was registered on Monday afternoon at Bhandup police station in the eastern suburbs, Mumbai.
According to the complainant, the elderly man received a voice call on WhatsApp from an unidentified number, and the caller identified himself as Vikas Gupta, a friend of his son who lives in Canada.
As the victim knew Vikas Gupta since childhood and the caller's voice resembled Gupta's, the victim trusted him.
The caller then started crying, saying he was in trouble and needed money immediately.
The victim transferred Rs 2 lakh to the caller's account and also asked his two friends to deposit Rs 50,000 each.
When the fraudster again demanded money, he sensed that something was fishy and made a video call to the caller which was not answered, the police official said. Later, the complainant then found out that Gupta had never made any such call.
On March 3, he filed an online complaint, but due to illness, he did not go to police station on the same day. The case was registered on Monday and further probe was on, the official said.
(With PTI inputs)
