Bengaluru: Woman duped of Rs 32.73 lakh by cyber thieves

Cyber thieves have defrauded a woman in Vijayanagara, to the tune of Rs 32.73 lakh. The criminals posed as customs officials and falsely claimed that a parcel received in her name from England contained 40,000 UK pounds, which had seemingly gone missing.

Geetha received a message on her mobile device, purportedly from customs officials, notifying her of a parcel that had arrived at her address from England, allegedly containing 40,000 UK pounds. To claim the funds, she was instructed to make payments for customs clearance fees. Trusting the message, Geetha followed the instructions and deposited a total of Rs 32.73 lakhs in stages into the specified bank account.

However, upon conducting further inquiries, Geetha soon realized that she had fallen victim to a cyber fraud scheme. This incident highlights the increasing prevalence of online scams and underscores the importance of exercising caution and verifying the authenticity of such messages and requests.