Hyderabad: Cyber fraudsters posing as NRIs allegedly targeted Imam-O-Khateebs of mosques and madrasas in Hyderabad and other parts of Telangana with fake offers of Zakat donations to cheat them of money.
At least two imams in Hyderabad’s Old City were duped, while an Imam-O-Khateeb in Jagtial in Adilabad were also approached over the past three days. They reportedly also attempted to dupe five more imams. Imams in Adilabad did not fall into the trap, as they lacked funds in their bank accounts.
An imam from Edi Bazar in the Old City said he received a call around 10.40 am on August 11 from a man claiming to be an NRI from Canada. The caller referred to the name of one of his acquaintances and offered money for mosque construction and poor Muslim orphans.
“On August 11 around 10.40 am I received a call from an unknown person. He introduced himself as an NRI from Canada and also referred to my known friend’s name, stating that he would like to donate funds for construction works of our mosque and for the poor Muslim orphans in the name of Zakat,” the imam told Deccan Chronicle.
The imam allegedly transferred `77,000 in three instalments after trusting the caller. When the promised money did not arrive, he contacted the national cybercrime helpline 1930 within an hour. He said his bank account was subsequently frozen and the fraudster returned the `77,000 through another bank account. The imam later informed the helpline that the money had been refunded.
Another imam-khateeb from the Old City was allegedly cheated on August 10 through a similar method. The fraudsters sent him a fake transaction message of `80,000 and asked him to transfer `50,000 back to them. He said he trusted the deposit message and borrowed `50,000 from his brother and transferred it, but did not receive `80,000 that they claimed to have transferred to his account.
Khizr Ahmed Yafi, a trustee of Zohra Mosque in Adilabad, said he too received such a call but became suspicious and did not respond to the caller’s demands.
Maulana Majid Ali Nadvi, the Imam-o-Khateeb of Masjid Zehra in Jagtial district, was contacted on August 11 by a caller who spoke fluent Urdu. The caller claimed that he wanted to donate `1.50 lakh as Zakat. The caller sought his bank account details and allegedly cited international transaction rules to demand money towards tax.
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A cybercrime officer said the fraudsters monitor victims’ social media accounts, collect the names of their friends and use those names as references to gain their confidence before seeking money.
The callers allegedly claim to be NRIs from countries such as Canada or Australia and offer large donations to mosques or Zakat for the needy.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: deccanchronicle.com
