Salem women duped into tonsuring for 'incentives'

COIMBATORE: Three elderly women in Salem were duped into shaving their heads after fraudsters, posing as staff from the Attur Tahsildar's office, falsely promised cash incentives under a purported government scheme to prevent the spread of a new disease.

On the night of July 26, a woman from Pudhukothampadi, near Attur, received a phone call from a person claiming to be an official from the Attur Tahsildar's office.

The caller claimed that a new disease, similar to COVID-19, was spreading through human hair and that several countries had adopted head tonsure as a preventive measure. To lend credibility to the claim, the fraudster said the state government is offering a cash incentive of Rs 15,000 to women, Rs 45,000 to female college students and Rs 6,000 to men who shaved their heads under a special disease-prevention scheme.

The caller further claimed that only a limited number of tokens were available for residents of Pudhukothampadi, and those who availed of the scheme could collect the money from the Attur Taluk Office.

Shortly afterwards, the woman received WhatsApp messages from the same number containing photographs of women with shaved heads and bundles of Rs 500 notes, as proof that the scheme was genuine. Believing the messages to be authentic, she shared the information with her neighbours.

Acting on the misinformation, three women — Chitra (63), Ramayi (62), and Kaveri (64) — visited a local salon and had their heads shaved. When they later attempted to contact the caller to confirm that they had complied with the instructions, they found the mobile phone had been switched off.

The women realised that they had been deceived only after visiting the Attur Taluk Office on Tuesday to claim the promised money, where officials informed them that no such government scheme existed. Police have registered a case and launched an investigation into the fraud. A youth has been detained on suspicion and is being questioned in connection with the incident.