In a shocking incident, an 84-year-old citizen has fallen prey to a cyber fraud, losing Rs. 20 lakh after being digitally "arrested" by scammers. The complainant, who lives in South Mumbai, reported the incident to the police and alleged that a person claiming to be a CBI officer from Delhi pressured him to transfer Rs 20 lakh from his account.
According to the South Region Cyber Police the complainant, bank account is with Canara Bank, and on April 5, 2024, they received a WhatsApp call from the alleged fraudsters.The caller introduced himself as Sunil Kumar Gautam, a CBI officer based in Delhi.
During the call, the fraudster informed the complainant that their Aadhaar card had been used for a transaction of Rs. 5000 crore at an ICICI Bank branch in Delhi. The caller then sent a confidentiality agreement through WhatsApp, further alarming the victim. The fraudster also claimed that the complainant’s account was linked to a money laundering case involving a person named Sandeep Kumar.
To add to the fear, the fraudster sent a fake order purportedly from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), instructing the complainant to transfer funds to a specific account for law enforcement inspection. In a state of panic, the complainant complied and transferred the money to the designated account at Canara Bank.
It was only after a conversation with their cousin that the complainant realized they had been scammed. Subsequently, the complainant filed a report with the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal and also lodged a complaint at the South Region Cyber police station.