Kolkata: The Kolkata Police cyber cell has cautioned citizens against emails, attached with fake court and central agency summons, pointing out that those emails were merely means of extorting money and that no one should be intimidated by them.
Cops said that like the other modus operandi, in which fraudsters called up targets with the threat of "digital arrests", emails, using fake emblems of central agencies were also being sent. Cyber crooks in Kolkata recently prepared fake summons and logos of important courts, including the Supreme Court, to make the summons look genuine. The accused was arrested and cops said this was the fourth arrest in the past month. "Any genuine govt link will have gov.in in its URL and not .org as it was in these cases. This is critical while dealing with fake identities," said a DCP.
Kolkata Police said that the fraudsters posed as law enforcement personnel, demanding money from victims in exchange for "silently closing the cases" registered against them.
Cops cited the example of a 43-year-old man from Indra Roy Road who had lodged a complaint at the Lalbazar cyber police station. The victim said he was duped of over Rs 45 lakh by fraudsters posing as Mumbai Police and CBI officers. The accused, over a video-conferencing app, threatened to implicate him in a money-laundering case unless he paid. To save his reputation, he paid the "fine" in installments from Mar 19 to several accounts. Multiple people were arrested in Odisha.