elderly man duped of rs 50,000 by men who ‘kidnapped’ nephew; police looking into possible use of ai software
the delhi police said they are probing if the accused used a software to imitate the nephew’s voice and trick the victim who resides in yamuna vihar.
new delhi | updated: december 13, 2023 02:56 ist
a 62-year-old man in yamuna vihar was cheated of rs 50,000 by scammers who posed as kidnappers and even imitated his nephew’s voice on call. in a panic, he transferred money to the accused to “free” his nephew — only to realise he had been duped.
police are now investigating if the suspects simply imitated the nephew’s voice or if special ai software was at play.
according to officers, lakshmi chand chawla received two-three calls from the accused who threatened to kill his nephew. “at first, i didn’t believe them. they then told me they would hurt my cousin’s son and kill him… they then made me listen to his voice… i could hear him crying. i got very scared and… did what they told me to,” chawla said.
chawla said the accused gave him another number to send the money through paytm: “at the time, i was not able to connect with my nephew over the phone. i transferred rs 50,000 the same day… but later when i called him, i found out he was safe at home… i realised i was cheated.”
police are yet to make any arrest in the case. dcp (northeast) joy n tirkey said an fir has been registered under sections of cheating and cheating by personation. “the man said he heard his nephew’s cries and believed it was him… we are checking phone records and other evidence,” he said.
senior officers said they found that one of the numbers used by the accused was involved in other scams. “the same number was used to cheat and extort people by men who posed as police officers. the accused even used photos of punjab and haryana policemen as their whatsapp display photos to convince their victims,” said an officer.
when asked about the possibility of ai software being used, the officer said they are looking into different applications and portals to ascertain this.
“as per initial enquiry, the accused and victim are not known to each other. however, the accused managed to get the victim’s details and that of his family from either social media or some middleman… the accused may have used voice modulation software to replicate the nephew’s cries.” he said.
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