Mumbai Woman Scammed By Keanu Reeves Impersonator

Mumbai: A man impersonating Hollywood actor Keanu Reeves scammed a female fan out of ₹65,000. The impersonator allegedly asked for Indian currency to visit the 69-year-old victim in India.

The victim's daughter, who filed the complaint at Versova police station, said the scammer gained her mother's trust as she lives alone in her Versova home and made her believe she was communicating with Reeves.

What exactly happened?

On Monday, Versova police registered an FIR against an unknown person for cheating the woman by impersonating Keanu Reeves. According to the FIR, the victim, D. Kamat, lives alone in Seven Bungalows, Andheri West. Her 41-year-old daughter, Sneha B., lives in London. Kamat is undergoing psychiatric treatment. She has an account with Canara Bank, where her daughter is listed as a nominee. Due to Kamat's ill health, her daughter also has access to her mother's bank account.

An imposter contacted Kamat via social media, claiming to be Hollywood actor Keanu Reeves, and started chatting with her on Instagram, Telegram, and WhatsApp, telling her that he would be visiting Mumbai to meet her. Having gained her trust, he said he needed Indian currency upon arrival in India and asked her to transfer money to his IDBI bank account. Believing she was talking to the real Keanu Reeves, Kamat transferred ₹65,000 from her Canara Bank account to the provided IDBI account.

On June 30, at 1:57 pm, Kamat received an email, read by her daughter, which raised suspicion. The money had been transferred to an account belonging to a person named Nahar in a bank in Dehradun. She immediately contacted her mother and realized she had fallen prey to a scam. She then instructed her mother not to transfer money to anyone.

The scammer contacted Kamat through the Instagram handle 'reeves_1390' and the Telegram ID 'keanu_reeves4576'. Sneha filed a complaint at the Versova police station on September 8. The police have registered a case under Section 318(4) (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Information Technology Act.

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