Cyber fraudsters posing as officials of the Indian High Commissionerate allegedly cheated a Vadapalani woman of ₹75,000 by falsely claiming her daughter, who is studying in London, was under “digital arrest” in connection with a fabricated financial crime.
According to police in Chennai, the victim, Banumathi, received a phone call from different persons who introduced themselves as High Commissionerate officials. They claimed her daughter was accused of cheating a minister of ₹10 crore and warned that she would face a 10-year prison term.
The callers further threatened that the student’s visa would be cancelled and her education disrupted unless money was immediately transferred for her “release.” Panic-stricken, the woman transferred ₹75,000 to a bank account provided by the fraudsters.
When the callers later demanded an additional ₹35,000, she grew suspicious and informed her husband, Ashok Anand. The couple then realised they had fallen prey to a cyber scam and lodged a complaint with the Cyber Crime Police in T. Nagar.
Police have registered a case and launched an investigation to trace the fraudsters.
