Three individuals, including two teenagers, have been arrested in connection with a cyber fraud case in which a 67-year-old retired teacher was defrauded of Rs 5.47 crore. The accused are alleged to have placed the victim under digital detention, claiming she was involved in a fake money laundering case. The fraudsters used threats of arrest and manipulated the victim into sharing her bank account details and mobile phone number. The incident began when the victim, a resident of Mumbai's western suburbs, received a phone call on November 16 from someone claiming to be Rajiv Sinha from the Telephone Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). The caller informed her that her mobile number would be deactivated due to its alleged involvement in illegal activities. After she denied the claim, the caller instructed her to lodge a complaint with the Mumbai cyber police.
Shortly after, the victim received a WhatsApp call from a person posing as sub-inspector Pradip Sawant of the cyber police, who told her that her statement would be recorded via video call. During the call, a person dressed in a police uniform appeared on the screen and instructed her not to tell anyone about the matter. The individual claimed that her name had surfaced in a money laundering investigation connected to Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal.
Later, a man named Ranveer Yadav, claiming to be from the CBI, informed her that her arrest could be postponed until November 20 if she transferred all her money to an RBI account for "investigation." In response, the victim liquidated her fixed deposits and transferred a total of Rs 5.26 crore in six transactions. Additionally, she charged Rs 21 lakh to her credit card and sent it to the fraudsters.
It was only when the victim confided in a neighbor that she realized she had been scammed and promptly filed a complaint with the police in early January. A team from the West region cyber police station, led by DCP Datta Nalawade and comprising senior inspector Datta Chavan and other officers, initiated an investigation. The police traced Rs 9.84 lakh that was transferred from a wanted suspect's account to Shabbir Ansari (39), who works in a finance company. Ansari allegedly withdrew the cash and gave it to 18-year-old Hasan Kadiwala, a college student. Kadiwala deducted his commission and handed over the remaining money to another teenager, Farzan Shaikh (18), who works for an app-based food delivery service. Shaikh then took his commission and passed the money on to a wanted accused who used it for trading in USDT (cryptocurrency). The two teenagers, Kadiwala and Shaikh, are from Mira Road and Malad, respectively. The police are continuing their efforts to apprehend the remaining suspects involved in the case.