Mumbai: Con manages to trick caller ID app, dupes woman of Rs1.86L

The cyber frauds, which have become an almost daily occurrence, are no more news. But the innovative techniques deployed by cons to outsmart even technology has now become a matter of public concern. In a recent case, a 31-year-old woman graphic designer was duped of Rs 1.86 lakh. But the alarming fact is that the fraudsters even managed to trick the caller id app installed on the phone of the Dombivli resident.

According to Thane's Vishnu Nagar police, the victim received a friend request from the fraudster in July. He befriended the woman, introducing himself to be a marine engineer working in the UK. In one of the conversations on July 8, the fraudster told the woman that he is sending her a gift parcel, containing an iPhone, a chain, clothes and jewellery. As asked by him, the complainant shared her address details with her 'friend'. The con even managed to convince her to pay Rs 65,000 as the Customs charges to claim the parcel.

On July 11, the victim again received a phone call and the number reflected as 'Indian Customs' on a caller ID app installed by the victim on her phone. The caller claimed to be calling from Delhi airport and asked the victim to pay Rs 65,000 on the promise of refunding the hefty amount at the time of parcel delivery. Unsuspecting, the woman sent the money in a bank account provided by the fraudster. The accused then kept asking for more money and threatened that she would face a money laundering probe if she didn't comply.

When the fraudster kept demanding more Rs 1.78 lakh, the victim lodged a police complaint on September 22. The police have registered a case under sections 66C (identity theft) and 66D (cheating by personation by using computer resource) of the Information Technology Act.

“Information appearing on such caller ID applications can also be fake so one should not rely on such information entirely,” said a police officer.