Ahmedabad: A 77-year-old retired teacher from Bodakdev was allegedly cheated of Rs 21.5 lakh by cybercriminals who posed as Mumbai Crime Branch officials and threatened to arrest him by claiming he was under investigation in a money laundering case linked to terror financing.
The fraud began on Oct 6 when the teacher received a WhatsApp video call from an unidentified number, according to a complaint filed with Cybercrime police on Oct 13. The following day, he transferred another Rs 6.5 lakh to an account held by Deepy Ads India Pvt Ltd with Bank of India in Goa. Suspecting fraud, the senior citizen contacted Cybercrime helpline 1930 and approached police.
The fraudsters allegedly kept the senior citizen under “digital arrest” for a week after showing him forged documents bearing the names and logos of the Mumbai Crime Branch, ED, Supreme Court and RBI . The caller told him that someone had issued a SIM card using his Aadhaar details and opened a Canara Bank account using the same identity for illegal financial transactions. The teacher was told he faced arrest for money laundering and was sent documents bearing his personal details and photographs to convince him he was under investigation.
The calls stopped after a few days. Cybercrime police are investigating the money trail and the identities of those involved.