Former SMO loses Rs 23 lakh in digital arrest fraud; case filed
In a first-of-its-kind digital arrest fraud in the holy city, a 76-year-old retired Senior Medical Officer (SMO) lost Rs 23 lakh to cyber fraudsters posing as a law enforcement officer from Mumbai recently. They kept him under ‘digital arrest’ for nearly two days via WhatsApp, while threatening to arrest him in a fake money laundering case.
The incident occurred on December 5 last month while a case was registered yesterday (on January 5) after a preliminary probe was conducted by the Assistant Commissioner of Police (Cyber Crime). The probe confirmed that the victim, a resident of Shaheed Madan Lal Dhingra complex on the main GT road, was duped of Rs 23 lakh by a cyber fraudster. The money was transferred to an educational and charitable trust in Karnataka. The money was further transferred to different bank accounts and further probe was on in the case.
According to the police, the victim received a WhatsApp call. When he picked up the call, the caller asked him that he was involved in money laundering case registered at the Tilak Nagar (Andheri) police station in Mumbai. He told the caller that he was not involved in any money laundering. On this, the caller said that he was a Sub-Inspector with the Mumbai police and that he was innocent but he would have to join investigations which would be carried out by his senior.
The call was later transferred to a fake police officer who told that the victim’s credentials were used for money laundering. The accused asked the victim to share his bank account details which he did. The caller threatened him that he had committed a big fraud and therefore his property would be freezed. Though the victim denied any involvement, he asked him that if he wanted to stop his arrest, he would have to pay all his bank amount through RTGS. The caller said if he was found innocent, the amount would be transferred back to his account. He shared the bank account details on WhatsApp. The terrified victim transferred Rs 23 lakh to the said account through RTGS.
The victim said the next day, he again got a call from the fraudster who sought the bank details of all other accounts which he denied. The caller, posing as a cop, threatened him. Sensing something amiss, he lodged a complaint with the police on December 6.
The police said a case under Section 318 of the BNS and Section 66 (D) of the Information Technology has been registered against unknown fraudsters and further probe was on in this regard.
