Kochi: Had it not been for the timely intervention of an alert bank manager, celebrated Malayalam music composer Jerry Amaldev would have easily become one of the many victims of cyber fraudsters on the prowl. The 85-year-old musician was almost trapped by scamsters last week, and he escaped the fraud just before transferring Rs 2.7 lakh to the dupers.
The scamsters used the same modus operandi to which former Metropolitan of the Niranam Diocese of the Malankara Jacobite Syriac Orthodox Church, Dr Geevarghese Mar Coorilos, fell prey last month. The top priest lost Rs 15 lakh in cyber fraud.
Just like those who called Mar Coorilose, the scamsters who contacted Jerry introduced themselves as officers from Mumbai police and accused the composer of being involved in a money laundering case relating to Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal. The fake police personnel contacted Jerry on a WhatsApp video call several times in the past two weeks, gradually setting up the trap. The man, who identified himself as Inspector Binoy Choube, told Jerry that he and a superior officer knew that the latter was innocent and convinced him to keep the matter a secret since it was related to national security. On September 4, the scamsters coerced him to transfer Rs 2.7 lakh to an account they gave. They also wanted him to pass to them the transaction details.
Panicked, Jerry reached the Federal Bank’s Pachalam branch and submitted the form to transfer the amount through Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS); all while answering the call through headset. “Jerry sir looked anxious, and when asked why he wanted to transfer the amount immediately, he said it was for a family purpose. When I requested him to disconnect the call, he was not ready. He wanted to send the money to a non-individual account named 'Janata Seva' at the SBI branch in Delhi's Mukhyanagar. Seeing it, I got suspicious and tried to tell him it could be a scam. I also informed Anoop Chacko, an inspector at Ernakulam Central Station. He sensed the danger and contacted Jerry through my phone and convinced him to disconnect the call,” bank manager S Sajinamol said.
After he disconnected the call, there was no response from the other end.
“I’m a victim of my ignorance,” Jerry said, recollecting the incident. He said he believed the claims of the fake callers since he had not paid attention to news of similar incidents.
Jerry, in turn, filed a complaint with the central police. Jerry, who started his music career as an assistant of legendary Hindi composer Noushad, is known for his songs in Malayalam films such as ‘Manjil Virinja Pookkal’, ‘Ennennum Kannettante’, ‘Ente Mamattikkuttiyammakku’, ‘Nokketha Dhoorathu Kannum Nattu’, ‘Guruji Oru Vakku’ and ‘Action Hero Biju’. He has won the Kerala State Film Award thrice.