In a shocking case of cybercrime, a 68-year-old woman from Borivali was duped of ₹78.70 lakh by unidentified fraudsters who threatened her with arrest, claiming involvement in a money laundering case.
The North Region Cyber Police has registered a case against three suspects, including one woman, and initiated an investigation. Police are tracing the bank accounts where the money was transferred and have launched a special operation to apprehend the culprits.
The victim, a retired employee of HPCL residing in Gorai, Borivali, received a call on October 9 from a person claiming to be Ajay Kumar from the Mumbai High Court’s notification department. The caller falsely informed her that a warrant had been issued for her arrest in connection with a money laundering case registered by Bangalore Police.
When the woman inquired about the case, the fraudster alleged that transactions worth crores had been made using her Aadhaar card and other documents. He then transferred her call to another individual, who identified himself as Vinay Kumar Chaubey, purportedly a Bangalore Police officer.
To convince her further, Chaubey asked her to download Skype for "interrogation." He showed her a photograph of an arrested individual and claimed that a credit card under her name was found in his possession.
The fraudsters also alleged that a bank account in her name had been used for transactions worth ₹2 crore. They warned her that she would have to travel to Bangalore for further investigation. Soon after, another fraudster, posing as a female officer named Deepali Masilkar, contacted her and threatened legal action against her and her family.
Under the pretext of "resolving the case," the woman was coerced into transferring ₹78.70 lakh across multiple bank accounts. The fraudsters assured her that the money would be returned post-investigation.
The victim revealed the incident to her son, who immediately recognized it as fraud and advised her to file a police complaint. She approached the North Region Cyber Police station, which registered a case against the unknown individuals.
The police are now analyzing the bank transactions and are working to trace the fraudsters involved in this elaborate scam.