Mumbai: 76-Yr-Old Businessman Duped Of ₹2 Cr By Scammers Posing As Crime Branch & CBI Officials

Mumbai: A 76-year-old businessman has fallen prey to scammers posing as Crime Branch and CBI officials and lost Rs 2.18 crore. The scammers had told the victim that he was being investigated in a money laundering case and that his assets and bank account transactions will have to be inspected.

According to the police, the victim is a resident of south Mumbai. On April 11, he received a WhatsApp video call from a person claiming to be a Bandra Crime Branch Unit officer. The caller told the victim that someone had bought a SIM card using his Aadhaar card.

Scammers Sent Bogus SC Document To Threaten Victim

The scammer also shared certain documents with the victim on WhatsApp stating that his bank account was flagged-up in a money laundering case. The scammer also sent a bogus Supreme Court document to the victim and threatened him. On April 12 the victim again received a message from the same scammer saying that he should be ready for an investigation.

Later, a person who claimed to be a CBI official sent a message to the victim and the message contained a bogus Supreme Court order stating “submitting assets for law enforcement inspection”.

From April 12 to 20, the victim transferred Rs2.18 crore in three transactions into different beneficiary bank accounts. On April 20, after the victim sent the money as per the instructions of the scammers, they sent him a letter on WhatsApp from the Income Tax Department stating that the investigation was going on. Later the victim learnt that he had been cheated after which he approached the police.