Kozhikode (Keralam) | A 57-year-old woman here has allegedly lost Rs 1.35 crore after cyber fraudsters, posing as Mumbai Crime Branch officers, threatened her with criminal cases and asked her to transfer money for verification, police said on Saturday.

The Cyber Crime police in Kozhikode City registered a case on Friday in connection with the incident.

According to the FIR, the woman from Kuthiravattom here received voice and video calls on WhatsApp from unidentified persons between September 22 and October 15.

The callers claimed that a SIM card fraudulently obtained using her identity documents was linked to several criminal cases.

The fraudsters allegedly told her that she was under police surveillance and instructed her to transfer money from her bank accounts to the Reserve Bank of India for verification, promising that the amount would be returned with interest, the FIR said.

Believing their claims, the woman transferred a total of Rs 1,35,14,000 in 13 transactions from three bank accounts held in her name, the police said.

The case was registered under various sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act.

The accused are yet to be identified, and the case is under investigation, police added.