Couple duped of ₹46L online by fake US cops

A senior citizen couple in Faridabad were allegedly duped of ₹46 lakh over three days last December, by suspects posing as US law enforcement officers. This happened over multiple video and voice calls on WhatsApp, from December 12 to 14.

- Leena Dhankhar

On December 12, the couple said they received a call on WhatsApp from a person who introduced himself as a US police officer, and claimed that the couple's 35-year-old son, an engineer in the US, had been arrested in a rape case.

To "free" him, the couple were asked to pay the caller a bribe of ₹46 lakh. From December 12 to 14, the couple did not contact the police, neighbours or relatives, as they had been threatened by the man posing as the American police officer that if they reached out to anyone, their son would be in trouble.

Over time, the man who made the first call asked the couple to speak to multiple other people, who also posed as American law-enforcement officers.

That the whole saga was a fraud came to light on December 17, and a day later, the couple submitted a complaint to the Faridabad Police. After a month of preliminary investigation, a case was registered on January 18 under section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and other relevant sections of the Information Technology Act at the Cyber Crime (central Faridabad) police station.