Karwar, 2 Jan

Cyber fraudsters impersonating Mumbai Police officials allegedly swindled a 72-year-old retired teacher of Rs 1.61 cr through online fraud in the State.

The incident involved a resident of the Tibetan Colony in Mundgod of Uttara Kannada district, police said on Friday.

According to the complaint filed with the district police on Thursday, Palden received a WhatsApp call from an unidentified person who introduced himself as an inspector from the Colaba Police Station in Maharashtra.

The caller claimed that several ATM cards had been recovered from the possession of a terrorist arrested in Mumbai and that one of the cards was registered in Palden’s name.

The fraudster threatened the elderly man by claiming that crores of rupees had been transferred from his bank accounts and that a money laundering case was registered.

The accused conducted video calls while wearing a police uniform and sent fake bank statements to the victim, a senior police officer said.

The complainant was told that to avoid arrest, his funds needed to be deposited into a so-called “National Fund” and that the money would be returned once the investigation was completed.

Realising that he had been cheated, Palden complained to the Karwar Cyber Crime Police Station.