MULTAN: Assistant Inspector General (AIG) Operations South Punjab Imran Shoukat Wednesday alerted people to a new modus operandi of fraudsters to mint money advising public to be cautious and proceed wisely upon hearing “Uncle Save Me” phrase from unknown person portraying himself as a relative and seeking help.
Observance of similar incidents made me believe public should be alerted, the AIG said in a video shared with media.
Elaborating, he said, someone would call any person introducing himself as relative like nephew and would say “Uncle save me, police has caught me, please talk to them”. Then another man introducing himself as some ASI would say they have caught your nephew in objectionable condition or with some girls and would demand money to set him free with warning the boy would go to lock-up with the rest if money not paid. The AIG said, they would also play pre-recorded typical sounds of wireless sets to enhance the trust level and would initially demand Rs 40,000-50,000. The boy would also cry request that his family be not informed. Any God fearing and soft hearted individual would resort to arrange money and send it to the fraudsters by mobile accounts. However, the AIG said, it would not stop here. They would demand more giving different reasons, he said, adding “I know a lot of people who have been deprived of their hard earned money amounting to Rs 100,000-200,000 through such tactics.
Imran Soukat advised the people that upon receiving any such call, they should first call their nephew on their personal number or contact his family to ascertain facts, adding that in this way they would remain safe from the fraudsters. He further stated that such like charlatans and fraudsters were tarnishing the image of police, adding that there existed a system of accountability and police department takes such illegal activity very seriously.