Thrissur: An elderly woman in Thrissur was held on a video call for one and a half days and fell victim to an online scam. The scammer, who appeared in the video call dressed as a police officer, swindled money from the woman.

The victim is Treesa, a resident of Meloor. A complaint has been filed with the police regarding the incident.

The scammer claimed that Treesa’s duplicate SIM was used for anti-national activities and ordered her to pay ₹2,60,000 as part of the police investigation. 

He mentioned that a person named Sandeep Kumar was involved in anti-national activities and that funds earned from those activities were being transferred from foreign countries to an account created using Treesa’s mobile number.

When Treesa attempted to pay via cheque at the bank, the transaction was denied because the Know Your Customer (KYC) verification was not completed. She then transferred ₹40,000 to various UPI numbers provided by the scammer.

Treesa said the scammer instructed her not to leave her room during the ordeal. With her children living abroad, only a relative was present at home.