Despite continuous public advisories and safety campaigns regularly released by law enforcement agencies, sophisticated cybercriminals continue to exploit residents across the state capital. In three fresh and distinct cases, fraudsters swindled a Bairagarh resident of over five lakh rupees using a fake social media profile, blackmailed a Bagsewania youth into paying extortion money by posing as police officers, and hacked a Government doctor’s phone to siphon off savings. Bhopal police have registered formal criminal cases for all three occurrences and initiated a co-ordinated investigation. Bairagarh resident enticed into fake share market scheme: The first incident involved Bairagarh resident Pankaj, 38, who works in the private sector and fell victim to a highly organised investment scam. The ordeal began approximately four months ago when Pankaj received a friend request from a foreign phone number registered under the name Naira Sharma. After establishing a digital friendship, the woman enticed him with promises of lucrative returns through stock market investments. Trusting her assertions, Pankaj initially made a small investment of five thousand rupees and saw immediate virtual profits, prompting him to progressively transfer larger sums totalling Rs 5.14 lakh.

 

 

The financial trap was exposed when Pankaj attempted to withdraw his accumulated earnings and found his transaction requests blocked by the platform. When he attempted to contact Sharma to resolve the withdrawal issue, she stopped answering his phone calls and subsequently deactivated her mobile number. Realising he had been duped, Pankaj lodged a formal complaint with the Cyber Cell, which was later transferred to the Bairagarh police station where a formal case of cheating has been registered. Youth blackmailed with fake arrest threats in Bagsewania: In a separate incident reported under the Bagsewania police station limits, a private employee named Sonu was coerced into transferring one lakh rupees under severe psychological duress. In March, Sonu received a phone call from an unidentified individual claiming to be a senior police officer. The caller falsely accused Sonu of viewing illegal adult content online and warned him of imminent arrest. To amplify the fear, the perpetrator sent Sonu a video showing police personnel physically assaulting individuals for similar offences, prompting the terrified youth to immediately transfer one lakh rupees to a designated account before reporting the extortion. Malicious android application package used to hack doctor: The third incident targeted a Government doctor, identified as Nandkishore, who resides in the Bagsewania locality. According to investigators, unknown cybercriminals sent a malicious Android Application Package (APK) file to the doctor’s smartphone. The moment the file was downloaded and executed, it compromised his device’s security, allowing the hackers to gain remote access to his personal data and financial credentials. The fraudsters subsequently siphoned off Rs 1.70 lakh from his bank account, prompting the Bagsewania police to register a cyber theft case and launch a technical investigation.