Thane Cyber Fraud Case: Surge is seen in the cyber fraud and the main targets among the common man is the senior citizen as they are easy to manipulate. A senior citizen couple from Thane's Badlapur area are the latest victim of digital arrest where they got looted for Rs, 2 cr, Police has registered a complaint of 68-year-old resident.
Victim received a call from fraudster On April 24 posing as a sub-inspector from Colaba police station. He threatened the victim that his name is involved in money laundering and black money case investigation. Victim got convinced after few more men posing as policemen spoke to him. They asked scammer to share live location for 24hours. They also used to make video calls to the complainant to keep a watch on his movements. The scammers also told the complainant that since he is a senior citizen the entire probe will be done online and won't be taken into physical custody.
Elderly man was in digital arrest from April 30 till July 01, scammers induced the complainant to transfer over Rs 2 crore in different beneficiary bank accounts in multiple online transactions on the pretext of getting their financial transactions verified.
On July 1, a person impersonating a judge told the complainant via video call that he and his wife were cleared of criminal activity and removed from digital surveillance. The scammers also promised to return his money to his bank account within 48 hours. When the money didn't arrive, the complainant's repeated calls to the scammers went unanswered, leading him to realize he had been scammed. He then filed a complaint with the cyber crime helpline, and Thane police have registered a case.