Retired bank employee loses Rs 26 lakh in digital arrest fraud in Sriganganagar
65-year-old victim scammed by fraudsters posing as Mumbai police officials
A retired bank employee was allegedly duped of approximately Rs 26 lakh in a digital arrest scam by cyber fraudsters posing as Mumbai police officials.
The victim, Paramjit Singh Taneja (65), who retired from Punjab National Bank and lives in Sriganganagar, has filed a report at the local cyber police station.
On December 23, Taneja received a video call from an unknown caller who did not show his face and claimed to be from Colaba Police Station in Mumbai. He told Taneja that his Canara Bank ATM Card had been found with a terrorist and used for money laundering. When Taneja said he had never been to Mumbai and did not have any account there, the accused threatened to kill his family in an encounter.
Police said the accused sent several fake documents to Taneja on WhatsApp on December 24, including a fake notice from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), a PDF of a fake ATM card in his name, a fake arrest warrant from the Enforcement Directorate (ED), and a fake notice from the CBI regarding a money laundering case.
The accused, on a WhatsApp voice call, demanded details of Taneja’s FDRs, mutual funds, and savings accounts. The accused then told him transfer money from his FDRs to his savings account. Taneja transferred money from three FDRs, totaling Rs 14,19,770, to his savings account.
The accused asked him to transfer the money to a bank account belonging to AP Trading Company at the Yes Bank branch in East Punjabi Bagh, New Delhi, for “verification”.
Taneja received another call on December 26, during which the accused threatened him and demanded that he transfer Rs 11,52,260 from his other FDR to an IndusInd bank account. Taneja complied and transferred the amount.
On January 2, Taneja realised he had been scammed and filed a complaint on the cyber portal 1930 and then registered a case at the cyber police station.
