Mumbai: In a shocking case of cyber fraud, a 78-year-old woman from Chembur was allegedly duped of Rs 1.90 crore by cybercriminals who impersonated senior Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) officials and threatened to arrest her in a fabricated terror funding and money laundering case.
The fraudsters allegedly kept the elderly woman under what is commonly known as ‘digital arrest’, restricting her movements and monitoring her through video calls and messages. The Mumbai police have registered an FIR against unidentified persons and launched an investigation.
Fraud Begins With WhatsApp Call
According to the FIR, the complainant, identified as Oni Satishchandra, is a retired Tata company employee who lives with her 80-year-old retired husband at N.G. Acharya Marg in Chembur East. Her 44-year-old nephew, Dr Samuel, who resides in the United States, regularly looks after the couple.
The ordeal began on October 6 at around 10.30 am, when Oni received a WhatsApp call from an unknown mobile number. A woman caller allegedly informed her that her Aadhaar card had been misused for money laundering activities. Soon after, she received a WhatsApp video call from a man dressed in a police uniform.
The caller instructed her to immediately move into another room and lock the door. The frightened woman followed the instructions and went into her bedroom.
Impersonators Threaten Arrest Over Terror Case
The man introduced himself as Sandeep Rao, Additional Joint Commissioner of the ATS Department in Delhi. He allegedly claimed that her name had surfaced in an investigation involving a terrorist identified as Asif Faizi, who had transferred money into an ICICI Bank account in Hubballi. He further alleged that she had received money from the accused and that a criminal case had been registered against her, warning that she would be arrested.
The fraudster allegedly told her that police personnel had been deployed outside her residential colony to keep watch on her. She was instructed not to leave her house without prior permission and to send them a message every hour about her whereabouts. The accused also forced her to download the Signal messaging application and obtained its access code.
Victim Instructed To Liquidate Savings
The fraudsters subsequently collected details of her bank accounts and savings. Another impersonator, identifying himself as Ajay Mehta, joined the video calls and instructed her to sell her shares and transfer the proceeds to her bank account.
Following his instructions, Oni visited Stock Holding Corporation of India Ltd in Chembur, sold her shares and deposited the proceeds into her Canara Bank account. She was subsequently instructed to break her fixed deposits and transfer the money into her bank account.
Later, another accused, posing as Police Commissioner Rakesh Agrawal, an ATS officer, allegedly questioned her about her links with terrorist groups. He claimed that Ajay Mehta would handle the investigation.
Mehta reportedly showed her a purported Reserve Bank of India (RBI) letter to convince her that she was under investigation for allegedly transferring money to a terrorist group.
Fraudsters Receive Rs 1.90 Crore
Under constant pressure and fear of arrest, Oni allegedly transferred a total of Rs 1.90 crore through RTGS transactions into multiple bank accounts provided by the fraudsters.
The beneficiary accounts were reportedly held in the names of Kailash Motors (ICICI Bank, Nagori branch), Kuldevi Pashu Aahar (ICICI Bank, Lakhani branch) and Sana Connecting World (Bank of India, Munger branch).
After receiving the money, Mehta allegedly called her on WhatsApp and assured her that there was no longer any need to worry about arrest, claiming that the case would be settled within 10 days. He promised that the transferred amount would be returned once the investigation was completed.
However, he allegedly demanded additional money and threatened her with arrest if she failed to cooperate.
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It was only then that Oni contacted her nephew, Dr Samuel, and narrated the entire ordeal. He immediately realised that she had fallen victim to a digital arrest scam and informed her that no legitimate police agency could detain or investigate a person through such video calls.
Dr Samuel subsequently alerted his Mumbai-based friend Sujit Manejis. On November 1, Manejis contacted the cybercrime helpline 1930 and lodged an online complaint.
The Eastern Region Cyber Police recorded Oni's statement and registered an FIR under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Information Technology Act against unidentified accused.
Further investigation is underway to trace the fraudsters, identify the beneficiary bank account holders and track the money transferred by the victim.
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