Thiruvananthapuram: In what could probably be the biggest ever cybercrime registered in the city, nine unidentified men took Rs 2.25 crore of a 72-year-old city resident by threatening him to be caught in a drug case.The victim was contacted by one of the men on Thursday impersonating as an employee of a courier firm and also informed that a parcel was sent from his address to Taiwan. The man also informed the victim that the courier contained 50g of MDMA and five fake passports. However, the complainant, Devarajan of Chettikulangara, denied sending a courier. The accused further informed him that Mumbai police seized the courier and asked him to handle the issue wisely. Hours later, Devarajan was contacted by another person by introducing himself as the sub-inspector of the Mumbai cybercrime wing. The officer informed Devarajan that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a case against the victim for sending MDMA and fake passports. The complainant was asked to reach Mumbai immediately by informing that the case is very serious in nature.The officer also shared a copy of the FIR registered and the identity card to win the trust of the complainant.Later, the third accused in the case contacted him as the officer of the Central Bureau of Investigation through Skype video call. In the call, the officer collected the details of his past activities and financial transactions.The accused promised to save him from the case provided that he cooperated with the investigation. The accused gathered his bank account details and also transferred Rs 2.25 crore from the victim’s account to around five bank accounts on Friday and Saturday. The accused promised to return the money once the investigation is over.Later, their mobile numbers turned off and the complainant felt some doubts. Soon he contacted the cyberpolice and a case was registered on Sunday. “We have just registered a case against the accused under IPC Sections 384 for extortion, 420 for cheating, 419 for cheating for extortion, 465 for forgery, 468 for forgery for the purpose of cheating, 471 for fraudulent use of a forged document and 34 for crime committed by more than one person and also under Sections 66 (C) and 66 (D) of the Information Technology Act, 2008. We have initiated measures to freeze the accounts to which the amount was transferred,” the police said.This is not an isolated incident as several online fraud cases are being reported in the city. An Ulloor-based man was duped of Rs 56 lakh by fraudsters by impersonating as CBI officials in October. A city-based female doctor was also cheated of Rs 2 lakh by offering a tele consultation job in September. In a email fraud, Rs 19 lakh was swindled from the account of a businessman in September. A woman was cheated of Rs 22 lakh by fraudsters impersonating as customs officials in October. The woman sent the money to release a courier worth Rs 1 crore, which was told to be sent in her name.Ironically, police could trace the accused only in less than five per cent of the cases.