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A 77-year-old woman was swindled of Rs 3.8 crore in a fake money laundering case in Mumbai. The accused kept the woman digitally imprisoned for more than a month. Monitored them constantly on video calls.
Many cases of digital arrest are coming to light every day, but a strange case of digital arrest has come to light in Mumbai, which you will be shocked to know. Not only this, this may be the first case of digital arrest of one of the longest running cyber fraudsters in the country. A 77-year-old woman from South Mumbai was kept in digital arrest not for a day or two, but for more than a month. Police said the accused defrauded a 77-year-old man of Rs 3.8 crore by threatening him with arrest in a fake money laundering case.
A housewife by profession, she lives in Mumbai with her retired husband. They have two children and both live abroad. The police said that they had received a WhatsApp call earlier. The caller told them that the parcel he had sent to Taiwan had been intercepted and contained five passports, a bank card, 4 kg of clothes, MDMA drugs, etc.
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Claimed to use woman's Aadhaar The woman told the caller that she had not sent any parcel to anyone. The caller said that his Aadhaar card details had been used in a crime and asked him to speak to a Mumbai police officer. The call was transferred to a fake police officer who said his Aadhaar card was linked to a money laundering case being investigated, though he denied any involvement.
Called as an IPS officer After this the complainant was asked to download the Skype app. It was said that the police officer would talk to him through him. She was ordered not to disconnect the phone and not to tell anyone about the case. A man identifying himself as IPS officer Anand Rana asked for his bank account details. Later, another person claiming to be George Mathew, IPS, Finance Department, came on the phone and asked him to transfer the money to his given bank account so that they could investigate it. They told him that his money would be returned if he was found innocent in the investigation.
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Video calls continued 24×7 The accused also sent him a fake Mumbai Crime Branch notice with the police logo. The accused asked the woman to continue her WhatsApp video call 24×7. He started a video call on his family computer. “If the complainant disconnects the call or the call gets disconnected, the accused will call her and ask her to reconnect and check her location,” said a police officer.
Went to the bank and asked to transfer the money The woman was instructed to go to the bank and transfer the money. She said if the banks ask what she needs it for, she can tell them she wants to buy the property. She transferred the money and the accused returned Rs 15 lakh to her account. He said that this amount was clearly found during the investigation. They won their trust by returning the money. She then asked her to send all the money from her and her husband's joint account. Within a short time, he transferred Rs 3.8 crore to six bank accounts.
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The daughter alerted the mother When the money was not returned, the complainant became suspicious and the accused demanded more money as tax. The woman called her daughter who told her she was being scammed and told her to contact the police. He dialed 1930 cyber helpline number. Investigators have frozen six bank accounts of the accused. A team of Senior Inspector Nandkumar Gopale, Inspector Kiran Jadhav and PSI Sachin Trimukhe headed by DCP Dutta Nalavde is investigating the case.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
