COIMBATORE: A 78-year-old man in the city lost Rs 1.2 crore to cyber fraudsters who threatened him, claiming that he was being kept under digital arrest.The senior citizen, who lives in Rajiv Gandhi Nagar near Sowripalayam, was contacted by unknown persons on Sept 14. They told him that he was involved in a human trafficking case and that unauthorised transactions had been carried out from his bank account. They told him that one of his bank accounts was linked to suspicious money transfers and so all his bank accounts had to be verified.Posing as officials handling the case, the fraudsters allegedly sent one-time passwords (OTPs) to the victim and instructed him to transfer money as part of the purported verification process. Over the past eight days, they continued to contact him and demand money on a daily basis. Believing their claims, the senior citizen transferred money in several instalments, eventually losing a total of Rs 1.20 crore.The fraudsters called him again on Wednesday morning and demanded more money. It was then that the man realised that he had been targeted by cyber fraudsters. He registered a complaint through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal and approached Coimbatore city cybercrime police.Police said the case would be transferred to cybercrime wing headquarters in Chennai since the man had lost Rs 1.2 crore.
