Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru
Mangaluru, Jun 12: Parents of college students in Mangaluru and Surathkal have been targeted by scammers posing as police officers, who threatened that their children were involved in serious crimes and demanded large sums of money for their release.
On Tuesday afternoon, several parents received alarming calls claiming their children were being arrested for crimes such as gang rape or kidnapping. The callers, speaking in Hindi, demanded Rs 5 lac to release the students or to clear their names.
The calls caused panic, leading parents to contact their children’s colleges for clarification or to visit the institutions directly. It was then revealed that the calls were fake. All the parents targeted had children in their first-year PUC.
The calls were made from numbers 923354533015 and 48699532787, which appeared on Truecaller as being linked to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and even showed images of police officers in uniform. This added to the appearance of legitimacy, causing further alarm among parents.
In one instance, a parent was told that their son had been kidnapped and a ransom of Rs 5 lac was required for his release. Distressed, the parent went to the college for verification, only to discover that the call was a hoax. Similar calls were reported by other parents of students, revealing a pattern of fraudulent activity targeting them.
The fraudsters strategically made these calls during school hours, attempting to exploit the parents' fear for their children's safety.
Most recipients of these calls were parents of first-year PUC students. The calls were made to phone numbers provided to the schools, and the callers had detailed knowledge of the students' and parents' names as listed in school records. This has led to concerns about how the information was obtained and if there was a data leak.
Authorities have urged parents not to panic if they receive such calls. "Police do not make such calls. These are fraudulent calls often made from abroad. Parents should avoid answering unknown international calls and should report any suspicious calls to the nearest police station or directly to 1930," advised Anupam Agarwal, police commissioner of Mangaluru.
While the cyber police are investigating the origin of these calls, the public has been reassured that there is no need for alarm. "These are fake calls. Anyone receiving such a call should report it to their local police station immediately," said Agarwal.