73-yr-old retired individual, homemaker among latest victims; CEN Cops file FIRs

Mysore/Mysuru: In two separate cases, a septuagenarian person and a homemaker have together lost Rs. 38 lakh to a cyber fraud racket.

In the first case, 73-year-old M. Rajashekar (name changed to protect identity), a retired person and resident of Srirampura Second Stage, has lost Rs. 28 lakh to a trading group, while in another case, Roopa (name changed), a homemaker and resident of Shaktinagar, has lost Rs.10.61 lakh to a man, who had befriended her on social media. The City CEN Police have filed First Information Reports (FIRs) in both the cases.

Repeated calls

According to the FIR dated Feb. 19, Rajashekar received WhatsApp calls from three different cellphone numbers (70397-82186, 73793-09312 and 86938-61083, on Jan. 21. The modus operandi was common — the caller, stranger to the complainant, introduced herself as Dia Mehra, shared a trading link for the purpose of providing information on WhatsApp. Later, his number was added to a WhatsApp group named ‘ABSL HNW Group’, only to upload information daily about trading.

Later, the complainant was asked to download ‘ABSL HNW App’ and register self. As per the instructions of ABSL HNW customer service, the complainant transferred Rs. 28 lakh from his ICICI bank account to different bank accounts suggested by ABSL customer service.

Helpless victim

On Feb. 12, Rajashekar received an IPO on his ABSL HNW account, with the instructions to pay Rs. 31 lakh. When he expressed his helplessness to pay such a huge amount, the perpetrators warned of cancelling his share of profit, that was displayed virtually on the App. Rajashekar, who suspected something fishy, enquired with his son, only to know that he has been taken for a ride by cyber fraudsters.

Meticulously planned

In the second case, Roopa came in contact with a stranger, who had befriended her on social media in August 2025. He later started calling her on WhatsApp from 87876-29705, only to earn her faith. The suspect, who introduced himself as an armyman, staying in Dubai, told her about dispatching a gift to her, after paying the customs charges in Dubai itself. He had insisted her to pay the customs charges, once the gift reaches Delhi Airport.

On Oct. 1, 2025, Roopa got a WhatsApp voice call from 99186-71270, where the caller introduced as an employee of a courier company. The courier staff informed Roopa about expensive gift sent to her name, insisting her to make the payment. For a period of two months, between Oct. 1, 2025 to Dec. 28, 2025, Roopa had paid Rs. 9.01 lakh, Rs. 1 lakh and Rs. 60,000, totalling Rs. 10.61 lakh.

Wait for parcel…

However, the wait for parcel, that was believed to be containing expensive gift, proved longer. Following this, Roopa called the man, whom she had befriended online, asking for the reason for delay. He later convinced her by saying, he himself will return the amount and bring the parcel to her. He gradually stopped calling her, following which Roopa learnt that she has been defrauded.