Ahmedabad: For 17 days, fraudsters allegedly kept a 72-year-old retired man glued to video calls, warning him that he would be arrested in a money-laundering case. Posing as CBI officers, they allegedly convinced him to transfer Rs 22.7 lakh to prove his innocence. The man finally grew suspicious when the callers demanded more money and approached the cybercrime helpline.
The victim told police that he raised the money by taking a loan against his gold and transferred it through RTGS on Aug 5. On Aug 7, the callers allegedly demanded another Rs 7.2 lakh, which he transferred from his Bank of Baroda account. He told police that he had transferred a total of Rs 22.7 lakh to different bank accounts.
When the callers demanded more money, the victim became suspicious and contacted the cybercrime helpline. Bopal police have registered a complaint against the three suspects and others who may be identified during the investigation.
The victim received a WhatsApp call on Aug 1 from a woman who identified herself as Sakshi Agrawal and claimed to be a CBI officer, according to a complaint filed with Bopal police on Tuesday. The woman allegedly transferred the call to two men who introduced themselves as Vijay Khan and Sandeep Rao and claimed to be CBI officers.
They allegedly told the retired man that an FIR had been registered against him.
The callers allegedly assured him that, since he was a senior citizen, he could undergo an online investigation instead of travelling to Mumbai or Delhi.