Cyber fraud: Crooks pose as TRAI officials and Mumbai Crime Branch officers
Woman loses Rs 25Lakh to ‘Daya Nayak’ gang
////Fraudsters trick Shahpura resident into ‘money laundering probe’, make her transfer cash and gold loan funds
////Victim was told that her SIM and Aadhaar number were linked to a case involving Jet Airways owner Naresh Goyal
Our Staff Reporter
Bhopal
Cyber fraudsters, posing as Mumbai’s retired police officer, famous encounter specialist Daya Nayak and other crime branch officials, duped a woman of more than Rs 25 lakh by tricking her into believing that she was involved in a money laundering case linked to Jet Airways owner Naresh Goyal.
According to an FIR registered at the Bhopal Crime Branch on October 10, the victim, Vishaka Agarwal of Shahpura received a call on September 20 from a person claiming to be from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
The caller told the woman that her mobile number would be blocked within two hours because another SIM card had allegedly been issued on her Aadhaar number in Mumbai under her name.
The caller then transferred her call to an ‘officer’ from ‘Mumbai’s Colaba Police Station’, who identified himself as Vijay Khanna from the Crime Branch. He claimed that a bank account had been opened in her name in connection with a money laundering case involving Naresh Goyal.
When the woman denied any connection, another fraudster posing as Crime Branch Officer Daya Nayak instructed her to cooperate with an online priority investigation. The conman convinced her to transfer money from her accounts to verify fraudulent transactions.
Under the pretext of verification, the woman was tricked to transfer Rs 8.40 lakh and Rs 2 lakh from her two bank accounts to a bank account number which was later found being opened in Gujarat.
Two days later the conman posing as Daya Nayak again called her, claiming they needed to assess her gold assets. Following their instructions, the woman visited her bank branch where she availed a gold loan of Rs 15 lakh and transferred the amount to another bank account of Gujarat.
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///Assured refund within 72 hrs
The fraudsters assured the woman that the amount would be refunded within 72 hours and even sent her a forged refund document. However, after receiving the funds, the so called officers became untraceable.
Realizing she had been duped, Vishaka Agarwal approached the Bhopal Crime Branch and lodged a complaint. Police have registered a case and launched an investigation into the fraudulent transactions amounting to Rs 25.40 lakh.
Crime Branch officials said the fraudsters may be operating from outside Madhya Pradesh and efforts were underway to identify and trace the bank account and SIM card holders.
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