Hyderabad: Cyber crooks exploited a Hyderabadi woman’s obsession with conspiracy theories and cheated her of Rs 9.6 lakh promising membership in an organisation called Illuminati.
The fraudsters, who claimed to be recruiters for Illuminati Lodge, told the Mallepally resident that it had sent her gold and money and she could collect it from the airport by paying customs charges. But the membership and customs charges she paid went to the fraudsters’ bank accounts.
Police arrested two people from Mumbai and Hyderabad in connection with the case. The main suspect, a Nigerian, who introduced himself as Raymond Wood, is absconding.
The victim, Pathan Ameena Bi, a housewife, received an email from Raymond Wood describing the benefits of joining Illuminati.
Ameena Bi started paying him money the membership fee by depositing cash in bank accounts. “After that, he told her that a box containing gold jewellery and cash has been sent to her through DHL Express by the secret society and that she could claim it. He later told her that the box is held up at the airport and she should pay customs charges. She deposited the money in installments,” said ACP Raghuveer.
After paying Rs 9,63,000 Ameena Bi realised that she had been duped. She approached the police and filed a complaint.
After a probe police arrested Rajendra Kumar Varma, 34, from Mumbai and Anil Kumar Nallamotu, 39, from Kapra. Police said the criminals opened an account in the name of Asian Enterprises with ICICI Bank at Mumbai using fake ID cards and helped the Nigerian to collect the money from the victim.
Police is not sure if Raymond Wood is the real name of the Nigerian.
