A 65-year-old woman in the Indian financial capital,&nbsp;Mumbai, was duped of&nbsp;more than Rs 1.30 crore (approx $154,000)&nbsp;in an elaborate cyber fraud. The scammers pretended to be officials from various organisations and extorted money from her for over two years.

The victim, who previously resided in the city's&nbsp;Chandivali area&nbsp;and moved to Byculla in June 2024, reportedly said&nbsp;that her troubles started in April 2023 when she met a stranger on an international dating app. The man claimed to be an American civil engineer working in the Philippines and said his name was Paul Rutherford.

Rutherford made up a story of a fatal accident at his construction site and said he needed funds to prevent deportation back to the United States, reported Hindustan Times. The woman sent him Rs 70 lakh ($83,365) in Bitcoin between April and June 2023 to help him. She also borrowed some money from her relatives to pay the fraudster, who&nbsp;promised to pay her back.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/entertainment/coldplay-concert-ticket-scam-bookmyshow-chief-summoned-over-alleged-fraud-763427">Coldplay concert ticket scam: BookMyShow chief summoned over alleged fraud</a>

In June last year, Rutherford claimed that he sent her&nbsp;a parcel containing $2 million after which she received a call from one Priya Sharma, who claimed to be a Delhi airport official.&nbsp;

Sharma said that the parcel addressed to her had been intercepted by the Customs department. She asked the victim to pay various charges to receive the parcel. The victim complied with the demands and transferred funds to different bank accounts between June 2023 and March 2024.

"The fraud didn't end there," said a police officer involved in the probe. The fraudsters tried to extort more money from the victim and posed as executives from Bank of America, who claimed to have received the funds and had sent her an ATM card.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/cyber-slavery-thousands-of-indians-are-trapped-and-tens-of-thousands-have-gone-missing-in-south-asia-763178">Cyber slavery: Thousands of Indians are trapped and tens of thousands have gone missing in Southeast Asia</a>

The woman also received phone calls from people who claimed to be from the International Monetary Fund (IMF)&nbsp;and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). They demanded further payments from her amounting to Rs 17 crore ($2.02 million) into various accounts as the cost of exchanging the currency from dollars to rupees.

Even after making several payments amounting to Rs 1,29,43,661 ($154,149) in total, the woman kept receiving calls from several&nbsp;people claiming to be from various agencies or authorities. It was only then that the woman finally grew suspicious and realised that she had been scammed. The woman&nbsp;then filed an FIR at the West Region Cyber police station about the incident.

"We have initiated investigation but have yet to uncover any leads to trace the fraudsters," the police officer said.

(With inputs from agencies)

A 65-year-old woman in the Indian financial capital, Mumbai, was duped of more than Rs 1.30 crore (approx $154,000) in an elaborate cyber fraud. The scammers pretended to be officials from various organisations and extorted money from her for over two years.

A 65-year-old woman in the Indian financial capital, Mumbai, was duped of more than Rs 1.30 crore (approx $154,000) in an elaborate cyber fraud. The scammers pretended to be officials from various organisations and extorted money from her for over two years. The victim, who previously resided in the city's Chandivali area and moved to Byculla in June 2024, reportedly said that her troubles started in April 2023 when she met a stranger on an international dating app. The man claimed to be an American civil engineer working in the Philippines and said his name was Paul Rutherford. Rutherford made up a story of a fatal accident at his construction site and said he needed funds to prevent deportation back to the United States, reported Hindustan Times. The woman sent him Rs 70 lakh ($83,365) in Bitcoin between April and June 2023 to help him. She also borrowed some money from her relatives to pay the fraudster, who promised to pay her back. Also read | Coldplay concert ticket scam: BookMyShow chief summoned over alleged fraud In June last year, Rutherford claimed that he sent her a parcel containing $2 million after which she received a call from one Priya Sharma, who claimed to be a Delhi airport official. Sharma said that the parcel addressed to her had been intercepted by the Customs department. She asked the victim to pay various charges to receive the parcel. The victim complied with the demands and transferred funds to different bank accounts between June 2023 and March 2024. "The fraud didn't end there," said a police officer involved in the probe. The fraudsters tried to extort more money from the victim and posed as executives from Bank of America, who claimed to have received the funds and had sent her an ATM card. Also read | Cyber slavery: Thousands of Indians are trapped and tens of thousands have gone missing in Southeast Asia The woman also received phone calls from people who claimed to be from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). They demanded further payments from her amounting to Rs 17 crore ($2.02 million) into various accounts as the cost of exchanging the currency from dollars to rupees. Even after making several payments amounting to Rs 1,29,43,661 ($154,149) in total, the woman kept receiving calls from several people claiming to be from various agencies or authorities. It was only then that the woman finally grew suspicious and realised that she had been scammed. The woman then filed an FIR at the West Region Cyber police station about the incident. "We have initiated investigation but have yet to uncover any leads to trace the fraudsters," the police officer said. (With inputs from agencies)

India: 65-year-old Mumbai woman duped of $154,000 by cyber scammers

A woman has sought police help via a video posted on Twitter against alleged torture by her husband, an automobile businessman. In the video posted on Twitter by filmmaker Ashoke Pandit, the woman, a Khar resident, is seen weeping and asking for help.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Cry of a women goes unheard with <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/KharPoliceStation?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#KharPoliceStation</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/MumbaiPolice?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MumbaiPolice</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/CPMumbaiPolice?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CPMumbaiPolice</a>. Please do the needful immediately before something untoward happens. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BetibachaoBetiPadao?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BetibachaoBetiPadao</a>. <a href="https://t.co/9DK5Bn1nJz">pic.twitter.com/9DK5Bn1nJz</a>
&mdash; Ashoke Pandit (@ashokepandit) <a href="https://twitter.com/ashokepandit/status/960028253279965184?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2018</a></blockquote>
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I have been &ldquo;tortured&rdquo; both mentally and physically by my husband. He has been &ldquo;torturing me&rdquo; for several years. I have been in the relationship just for the betterment of my children. But this man refuses to do the needful for my living, the woman said in the video.

&ldquo;Kindly help me, because this man will torture me mentally and end up my life. If I don&rsquo;t get justice I will end up tomorrow in the streets of Khar. Please give me justice,&rdquo; the woman said in the video.

A senior police official said the woman and her husband had a domestic dispute.

&ldquo;The couple has three children and stay in a duplex apartment in Khar. While the husband and two kids stay on the eleventh floor, the woman along with their daughter stay on the 12th floor,&rdquo; the officer said.

He said the woman has recently registered two cases against her husband.

&ldquo;One case was registered for house breaking, while another for criminal intimidation,&rdquo; he said, adding police is probing the matter and whatever action is needed will be taken.

In the video posted on Twitter by filmmaker Ashoke Pandit, the woman, a Khar resident, is seen weeping for "help and justice"

A woman has sought police help via a video posted on Twitter against alleged torture by her husband, an automobile businessman. In the video posted on Twitter by filmmaker Ashoke Pandit, the woman, a Khar resident, is seen weeping and asking for help. Cry of a women goes unheard with #KharPoliceStation. @MumbaiPolice @CPMumbaiPolice. Please do the needful immediately before something untoward happens. #BetibachaoBetiPadao. pic.twitter.com/9DK5Bn1nJz — Ashoke Pandit (@ashokepandit) February 4, 2018 × I have been “tortured” both mentally and physically by my husband. He has been “torturing me” for several years. I have been in the relationship just for the betterment of my children. But this man refuses to do the needful for my living, the woman said in the video. “Kindly help me, because this man will torture me mentally and end up my life. If I don’t get justice I will end up tomorrow in the streets of Khar. Please give me justice,” the woman said in the video. A senior police official said the woman and her husband had a domestic dispute. “The couple has three children and stay in a duplex apartment in Khar. While the husband and two kids stay on the eleventh floor, the woman along with their daughter stay on the 12th floor,” the officer said. He said the woman has recently registered two cases against her husband. “One case was registered for house breaking, while another for criminal intimidation,” he said, adding police is probing the matter and whatever action is needed will be taken.

Mumbai woman alleges torture in video, seeks help from police through Twitter

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India: 65-year-old Mumbai woman duped of $154,000 by cyber scammers

Mumbai woman alleges torture in video, seeks help from police through Twitter