In a shocking incident, a con artist pretending to be an ED officer attempted to extort Rs 5 crore from an IAS officer Ram Singh Varma, threatening to release a compromising video.
The scamster even lowered the coughing-up demand to 1.5 crore.
The officer hastened to lodge an FIR at Hazratganj police station.
Police are investigating the case.
The officer is serving as Additional Managing Director of Uttar Pradesh Road Transport Corporation.
The officer reportedly received a video call from an unknown number and threatened to release the video in case he failed to heed his demand.
After this, the caller made several repeated calls. The caller also hurled abuses at the officer.
The Hazratganj police are trying to trace the caller.
Sources said, that often it becomes difficult to trace such video calls, and even if police get to know certain things they find themselves helpless because the scamsters at times turn out to be calling from different corners of the state and country.
Most IT frauds in which people have lost considerable amounts of money remain lying in files as the police are technically not all that equipped, particularly in Uttar Pradesh.
IT fraud is still one area where cops find themselves helpless.
A couple of months ago a high-ranking IAS officer became the victim of IT fraud. The officer after transferring Rs 35,000 realized his mistake but it was too late.
It is still not known whether cops worked out the case or not.