Woman held ‘hostage’ in video call scam for over a day in Chalakudy; ₹40,000 lost

A woman in Chalakudy was held hostage over a video call for more than a day by cyber fraudsters who manipulated her into transferring money through a series of threats. The victim, identified as Treesa from Melur, has filed a complaint with the cyber police regarding the incident on Tuesday.

According to the complaint, the scammer appeared on a video call dressed in a police uniform and falsely claimed that a duplicate SIM card issued in Treesa’s name had been used by a man named Sandeep Kumar for illegal activities. The fraudster warned her not to leave the room and threatened that if the information was leaked, Sandeep’s associates would come after her.

Fearing for her life, Treesa remained locked inside her room for nearly 36 hours. During this time, the fraudster instructed her to transfer nearly ₹3 lakh from her bank account to what he claimed was a “government account.” When Treesa said she was unfamiliar with online transactions, she was told to go to the bank and deposit the amount directly.

Limit on account

She went to the bank and attempted to transfer ₹2.6 lakh to the fraudster’s account. However, due to a limit on the account, the transaction could not be completed. The scammer then directed her to use Google Pay to send the money in smaller instalments. Treesa ended up transferring around ₹40,000 through multiple transactions to various numbers.

Repeated requests for money finally raised her suspicions and she informed her relative about the calls. Later, Treesa lodged a formal complaint with the cyber cell, and an investigation is now under way.

Published - June 04, 2025 08:58 pm IST