Thiruvananthapuram: A group of 10 cyber fraudsters scammed a 52-year-old Kowdiar resident of Rs 1.84 crore after placing him under virtual arrest in Thiruvananthapuram.

The victim was defrauded of a large sum of money over a period from January 14, 2025, to February 12, 2025. The fraudsters, pretending to be from Telecom India, called the complainant and falsely informed him that he was implicated in a money laundering case involving Ashok Gupta. One of the accused, posing as a CBI officer named Rakesh Kumar, then video-called Nair and placed him under virtual arrest. He was instructed to send a copy of his passbook to a WhatsApp number provided by another fraudster.

The victim was coerced into transferring large sums of money from his bank accounts. These included Rs 14,90,999 from his HDFC account, Rs 12,90,999 from his SBI Jawahar Nagar branch account, and Rs 21,99,999 from his IDBI Ulloor branch account to various accused’s bank accounts. By saying that the Supreme Court has demanded a Rs 3 crore security bond, he was also forced to transfer Rs 18,10,999 and Rs 39,00,000. A total sum of Rs 1,84,15,993 was transferred via RTGS.

The Thiruvananthapuram City Cyber Crime Police have filed a case under sections 319(2) (crime of cheating by personation.), 318(4) (cheating and dishonestly inducing the delivery of property), 3(5) ( joint criminal liability) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and section 66(D) (cheating by impersonation using a computer) of the Information Technology Act.

Meanwhile, the complainant's lawyer, Advocate Mahesh Subrahmanya Iyer, told Manorama Online that the fraud continued even after the complaint was lodged. The victim had to mortgage his house and take out a loan to pay the fraudsters. The scam only stopped after the lawyer intervened.