A case has been lodged at the CEN police station after a man was swindled out of ₹35 lakh by a fraudster posing as an officer from the cyber crime branch.
The incident unfolded on September 24, when the victim received a call at his residence. The caller identified himself as Kartik Sharma from DHL courier services, based in Mumbai. He claimed that a parcel under the victim’s name, allegedly containing illegal drugs, had been intercepted by the Mumbai cyber crime branch, and was bound for Taiwan. The caller provided a contact number—9957376759—stating it belonged to the officers handling the case.
Worried, the victim dialed the given number and was introduced to another impostor, Pranesh Gupta, who pretended to be an officer from the cyber crime branch. During a video call, Gupta accused the victim of being linked to an international narcotics case. He threatened, “We will arrest you unless you pay a settlement.”
Panicked by the false allegations, the victim transferred ₹35 lakh to the account details provided by the scammer. Realizing the deception, he later approached the CEN police and filed a formal complaint.
The police are currently investigating the matter.
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