FPJ Cyber Secure: Nirlon Company VP Falls Prey To DCP Impostor; Loses ₹5.85 Lakh

Mumbai: The vice-president of Nirlon, Riddhi Mehta, 31, fell prey to persons posing as Deputy Commissioner of Police (cyber crime) Milind Bharambe (who actually is the Commissioner of Navi Mumbai police) and police inspector (cyber) Pradip Sawant and lost Rs. 5.85 lakh. Mehta is a resident of Ahmedabad and frequently visits Mumbai for work. Her husband is a lawyer in the High Court.

According to the FIR, On November 7, at 2.30pm, Mehta was at her Goregaon office when she received a call from someone claiming to be an employee of FedEx, stating that a case was registered against her for alleged misuse of her Aadhaar card and told her would connect the call to the Narcotics Control Bureau. The call was then connected to someone posing as Sawant, who showed his ID through Skype. Mehta, following their instructions, provided the scammer with her bank account information.

Later, another individual claiming to be DCP Bharambe called her and sent his ID card through Skype. He too asked her about her bank accounts, coercing her to first transfer Rs 98,887, and then the rest of the amount totalling to Rs 5,85,384 under various fabricated pretexts. To fulfil the demands, Mehta borrowed money from her husband, relatives and friends. Upon discussing the incident with her husband that night, she found out that no high-ranking officer would demand money in such a manner. Mehta then filed a case under the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act.