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Fraud calls are becoming a widespread problem, exploiting unsuspecting individuals through deception and manipulation. While the tactic is generally used to ‘extort’ money, one such call led to the death of a government school teacher in Agra. According to a report, a teacher died due to cardiac arrest that was reportedly triggered by a fraud phone call she received from scammers who falsely claimed that her daughter is involved in a sex scandal.
According to a report by news agency PTI, cyber fraudsters posing as a police inspector, threatened to expose the fabricated scandal unless the teacher, identified as Malti Verma, paid them Rs 1 lakh.
How it happened
On September 30, the fraudsters allegedly threatened the teacher and demanded Rs one lakh to not disclose the matter, the family of the teacher said.
“On September 30, she got a Whatsapp call at 12 pm in which they said that her daughter was caught in a sex scandal and began threatening her for the future consequences of revealing her daughter’s identity,” the teacher’s son was quoted as saying.
The report added that the teacher’s son assured her it was a scam.
“After that, she talked to me over [the] phone and informed me about the call. But when I checked the phone number, I told my mother that it was a fraud call from cyber criminals,” he added.
“After that I also talked to my sister and found everything normal. I asked my mother not to worry because she was a victim of cyber fraud, but she could not control her tension and her health deteriorated after that call,” he said.
Despite her son’s reassurance and confirmation that her daughter was safe, Verma experienced severe anxiety and chest pain after the call. Her condition rapidly deteriorated, and she was pronounced dead at the hospital.
“When her health began deteriorating, we took her to a hospital, where doctors declared her dead due to cardiac arrest,” he said.
How fraudsters target users and how to safeguard
Fraudsters often employ sophisticated tactics like caller ID spoofing to appear legitimate on calls. The scammers impersonate government officials, bank representatives, or even tech support personnel – that adds legitimacy to the scheme.
Scammers’ goals are diverse – from stealing financial information and personal data to tricking victims into making payments or downloading malware.
The only way to safeguard from such scam calls is to recognise the red flags of fraud calls. These may include unsolicited offers, high-pressure tactics and requests for personal information. Users should talk to the concerned person before believing such scams.
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