How 'Mark Zuckerberg' & 'Elon Musk' duped a retired Kanpur teacher of Rs 1.57 crore

A 61-year-old retired teacher was scammed for over a crore rupees in a recent incident of cyber crime in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur. Allyson Weems was tricked on Facebook by someone who introduced her to fake Mark Zuckerberg and Josh Turner. The imposter gradually gained her trust and convinced her to reportedly invest in a school business venture in Kanpur.

While some might sense things to be fishy and report it, the teacher fell victim to the fraudsters.

They made her believe they were linked to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, leading her to invest in a school business and make her transfer money to various bank accounts over a year.

Funds were extracted from Weems for employment, investment, processing fees and other reasons, the Times of India reported, adding that her chat history with both ‘Turner' and ‘Zuckerberg' was deleted.

According to the victim, she had deposited Rs 1.57 crore from her retirement fund, lifetime savings and other sources.

After her money was deposited, another person, being identified as Miracle Givers contacted her. Givers ensured her money would be returned, but she had in the meanwhile become suspicious.

She was also made to speak to a so-called 'advocate', who suggested that her money, reportedly misappropriated more than Rs 2.23 crore, was invested in Wisdom Capital. But when she waited for interest, which she was lured for, she received no call backs. The scammers cut off contact.

Shortly after, she sought help and reported the incident to the Cyber Crime Branch. She filed an FIR on Monday. On February 27, a complaint was filed on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal, resulting in Rs 30.42 lakh being put on hold.