Mumbai: Posing as police and CBI officials and threatening arrest, fraudsters duped two senior citizens—a 70-year-old-man and an 80-year-old engineer retired from a marine company—collectively of over Rs 1.6 crore in two separate cases of cyber detention. The accused threatened one of the victims, saying 17 cases were registered against his mobile number for sending online harassment messages and pornographic videos, and the other victim, saying a Rs 2 crore money laundering transaction was made in a bank account in his name.
The septuagenarian in his complaint told the police the crime took place between Sept 9 and 26. He received a call from a person identifying himself as Jaykumar Bansal, a policeman from Delhi court. Bansal told him there were 17 cases against his mobile number. The complainant denied the charges and said the mobile number did not belong to him, saying he had not bought a new SIM. Bansal told him someone misused his number and he should lodge a complaint with one CBI cyber crime branch officer Rahul Yadav.
Yadav told the complainant that huge money laundering was done in a bank account in his name. Yadav told him the mobile number and bank account would be under inquiry and he would be under WhatsApp video call surveillance. The complainant told the police that he and his wife, 70, panicked. The accused then told him that until the probe was on, he would be under “house arrest”. In case he told anyone, the fraudsters threatened him with action for leaking administrative secrets. He was asked not to switch off his call. One Varun Kumar sent him letters with fake logos and seals of CBI, RBI, and the High Commission of India. The accused asked the complainant to transfer all his money into a “govt account” till the inquiry was on; he transferred Rs 43.9 lakh. Kumar then sent him a “police clearance certificate”. When the complainant tried contacting them to get his money back, they did not respond. He realised he had been cheated.
In the other case, an octogenarian lost Rs 1.2 crore. He received a call on Sept 30 from one Sandeep Rao, who posed as the head officer of Bengaluru police and told him they found money laundering of Rs 2 crore in a bank account in his name. Rao also called him up in police uniform and asked him to close his door and windows. Rao told him an FIR was registered against him and CBI was probing it. The complainant denied all allegations. A fake CBI officer, Akash Kulhari, told him he could not travel outside Maharashtra and sent him a fake arrest warrant, issued by the Supreme Court. The accused asked him to send all his money into a secret bank account till the inquiry was on. Two days later, on Oct 3, the complainant received a video from a friend about online frauds, and he approached cops. Both FIRs were lodged in Nov.
Dutta Nalawade, DCP (cyber), said, “Cybercriminals posing as law enforcement agencies, such as the police, CBI, RBI or narcotics department, are targeting citizens with intimidation and extortion tactics. Always verify their identity through official channels.”
