Kolkata Woman Loses Rs 78 Lakh In Phone Call Fraud

Three persons were arrested from Gujarat for allegedly defrauding an elderly woman of Kolkata of over Rs 78 lakh after convincing her that a parcel in her name contained illegal drugs, police said on Wednesday.

The suspects were arrested from different parts of Gujarat by the Cyber Crime Wing of the Kolkata Police, they said.

Deepanwita Dhar, a resident of Kolkata's Maniktala, received an automated call on March 9, 2024, informing her that a parcel in her name had been cancelled, police said.

Assuming it was linked to an online order, she called the "customer care" number provided in the message, they said.

"The callers, posing as Mumbai Police officers, told her that 200 grams of contraband had been found in a package allegedly sent by her to a man in Mumbai. When she denied any involvement, the fraudsters claimed her Aadhaar details had been misused and that her bank account was under suspicion," a police officer said.

"They instructed her to deposit a security amount with the Reserve Bank of India, warning her not to speak to anyone about it," he said.

The woman transferred Rs 78.3 lakh to the account details given by the suspects, he added.

Realising she had been defrauded, she later approached the police, who traced the money trail and tracked down the suspects in Gujarat.

"Further investigation is underway to identify other members of the network," the officer said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)