Cybercriminals impersonate officials from various authorities and agencies
Pune: Cybercrooks posing as officials of various authorities, including the telecom department, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and police, extorted Rs10 lakh from a 59-year-old resident of Chikhali in a digital arrest scam this month. The fraud took place between Sept 11 and Sept 16. The police have registered a case under sections 318 (cheating), 204 (personating as a public servant), 308 (extortion) and 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and relevant sections of the Information Technology (IT) Act. On Sept 11, he received a call from an unknown cellphone number. The fake CBI official told the complainant that his team had recently raided the house of one Sandeep Sharma, a criminal on police records, and found 180 bank passbooks. He said that after 24 hours, when the money was not returned, the man contacted his son, a software engineer.
An officer from the Chikhali police said the complainant works with a private company in Chakan MIDC. The caller claimed to be an official from the telecom department and told the complainant that his Aadhaar number had been misused for money laundering. He then connected him with a “CBI official”. The officer said the crooks also threatened the complainant not to discuss the case with anyone as it was linked to a terrorist organisation. The complainant later received a video call from the “police officer”, who claimed that the crime branch was keeping a constant watch on him. A friend of the complainant’s son, who works with a bank, told him that it was a fraud and suggested that he approach the police. Senior police inspector Ranjit Jadhav is investigating the case,” the officer said.
“We have registered the case. The man approached the Chikhali police on Saturday and lodged a complaint.