LUCKNOW, May 30 -- In another case of cybercrime driven by emotional manipulation, a 72-year-old retired man from Lucknow's Krishna Nagar area was duped of Rs 81,747 by a fraudster posing as a friend in distress. Anjani Kumar Srivastava, a resident of LDA Colony on Kanpur Road, received a phone call around 9:15 pm that evening. "The voice on the line sounded remarkably like someone I knew-a familiar tone. The caller claimed that a close friend had met with a road accident and urgently needed money for treatment," said Srivastava in the FIR registered on Wednesday. Wanting to help, Srivastava quickly transferred the money in three UPI installments-Rs 69,569, Rs 3,269 and Rs 8,909-believing it to be a life-or-death situation. It was only after completing the transactions that doubts crept in. "When I contacted the real acquaintance, I realised there had been no accident. I had been deceived," he said. Acting promptly, Srivastava filed a complaint on the Cybercrime Portal the next day, December 7, and followed it up with the Lucknow Cyber Cell on December 28, according to the FIR. Cyber officials have flagged the incident as a classic case of "voice phishing," where scammers imitate known voices to create urgency and manipulate victims. "These scams play on trust and emotion, especially targeting the elderly. Always verify before transferring funds, even in emergencies," said Brijesh Yadav, station in-charge of the cybercrime police station. He added that fraudsters often monitor victims' social media accounts to gather information about their acquaintances. "They use voice modulation apps to impersonate familiar voices," he said....