Shakeel Ali Sutarwala, a 50-year-old engaged in brand marketing, fell victim to cybercriminals who falsely informed him that his Aadhaar card was implicated in crimes across 12 to 15 states. They heightened his fear by suggesting that the arrested individual had connections to Dawood, making the situation appear extremely serious. Under this pretext, they managed to defraud him of ₹2.65 lakh.
The complainant, Shakeel Sutarwala, residing in the Colaba area, received a Skype call from an unknown number on the morning of May 17 around 11 AM. The caller stated that his FedEx parcel had been held up. Additionally, another person on the line mentioned that the parcel he sent to Taiwan was detained by Mumbai Customs at the airport. It was said to contain a laptop, passport, credit card, and drugs.
During a subsequent video call, an unknown person asked the complainant to provide their full name, mother's name, date of birth, full address, and Aadhar card. The frightened complainant sent all the information. At that moment, a person posing as a junior officer came on the line and told the complainant that their Aadhar number was linked to crimes in twelve to fifteen states in the country, mentioning that Mohammad Islam Nawab Malik was arrested last year. The complainant suspected that this accused had connections to Dawood, making it an extremely serious matter.
The complainant got scared and asserted that he had done nothing wrong. Meanwhile, he received a crime notice from CBI India, and his statement was recorded. During the statement, a person posing as a DCP informed the complainant that there appeared to be black money in his account and that the RBI was investigating it. Subsequently, a letter titled "Acknowledgment from the Financial Department" was sent to the complainant. In the meantime, he was instructed to transfer 85% of his bank account balance to an account named Melody Professional at IndusInd Bank, allegedly owned by the RBI. Panicked, the complainant took a check from home and went to HDFC Bank to transfer Rs 2.62 lakh via RTGS. After realizing he had been defrauded, the complainant's mother called a familiar lawyer, who confirmed that the video call was a scam. The complainant then filed a complaint at Colaba Police Station.
The Colaba Police Station has registered a case against three unknown suspects under sections 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating), 465 (forgery), 467 (forgery of valuable security), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating), 469 (forgery for the purpose of harming reputation), and 471 (using as genuine a forged document) of the Indian Penal Code, along with sections 66 C (identity theft) and 66 D (cheating by personation using computer resource) of the Information Technology Act.