Cyber Crime
Senior Citizen Loses Rs 3 Lakh in Sophisticated Voice Cloning Scam
Mumbai: A 63-year-old man fell victim to a sophisticated cyber scam, losing Rs 3 lakh. The fraudster, pretending to be his son’s friend, Vikas Gupta, duped him by mimicking Gupta’s voice over a phone call.
The event occurred on March 2, but the police report was filed on April 9 at Bhandup police station. The elderly man, whose children reside abroad, was deceived when he received a call via WhatsApp from an unknown number. The caller, imitating Vikas Gupta’s voice, whom the victim knew since childhood, pleaded for urgent financial help.
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Trusting the caller’s familiar voice, the victim transferred Rs 2 lakh to the provided account and convinced two friends to contribute Rs 50,000 each. However, suspicion arose when the caller demanded more money, and subsequent attempts to video call the fraudster were unsuccessful.
Realizing the deception, the victim discovered that the real Vikas Gupta had made no such calls. Although he filed an online complaint on March 3, he could not physically visit the police station due to illness. The police have since registered the case and are conducting further investigations.