A 22-year-old woman in Mumbai’s Sion area fell victim to a cyber fraud amounting to Rs 15.93 lakh orchestrated by fraudsters posing as spiritual healers. The fraudsters, claiming to possess supernatural powers involving ‘jinns’ and tantric abilities, lured the woman through social media, initiating a scam that spanned nearly two and a half years. The Mumbai Cyber Cell has initiated a thorough investigation into the case following the registration of a formal complaint.
The victim first encountered the scammers on Instagram in 2023, where a post titled “Powerful Obsession Healer” caught her attention. This post promised solutions for career, relationship, and personal issues, redirecting her to WhatsApp to communicate with an individual who identified himself as “Wahid” or “Sahil.” The accused exploited the victim’s trust by offering a bright future and convincing her to undergo a special tantric ritual, eventually claiming to possess a jinn capable of fulfilling all her desires.
Initially demanding Rs 25,000, the fraudsters continued to extort money from the victim under various pretexts, such as incomplete rituals, negativity removal, and threats of an angry jinn needing appeasement. The victim, in her belief of the fraudsters’ claims, transferred funds to multiple bank accounts under different names like Sumra Mohammed, Mohsin Salim, and Gulnaz, indicating a potential involvement of an organized cybercrime syndicate. Despite continuous payments, the promised results never materialized, leading the victim to realize the deception after a prolonged period and report the incident to the Cyber Crime Helpline.
In response to the complaint, the Cyber Cell has been actively tracing the Instagram accounts, mobile numbers, and bank details associated with the accused individuals. Investigators suspect this case to be part of a broader network targeting individuals through social media, exploiting superstition and emotional vulnerabilities. Authorities have advised the public to exercise caution when interacting with unknown persons online and to be wary of claims involving supernatural powers or guaranteed solutions to personal problems.
