Mumbai: A 75-year-old man has fallen prey to scammers in a digital arrest case and ended up losing Rs 28.30 lakh. The scammers had posed as Andheri police and CBI officers and by threatening the victim with false claims that his name had cropped up in a money laundering case, they induced the victim to redeem his fixed deposits and transfer the money in beneficiary bank accounts.
After the victim told the scammers that he ran out of money, the scammers told him to mortgage his agricultural land and send more Rs 60 lakh. This is when the victim sensed something foul and later realised that he had been scammed.
According to the police, the victim is a resident of Buldhana. On December 23, the victim received a phone call from a person claiming to be from Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). The caller told the victim that sim cards had been issued on the victim's Aadhar card and the said sim cards are being used for criminal activities. The victim told the caller that he has no knowledge about the sim cards after which he received a video call from a person wearing a police uniform.
The caller posed as an Andheri police station officer and told the victim that a case has been registered against the victim at Andheri police station on charges of money laundering, opening of bogus bank accounts and pornography and the victim would be arrested in the said case.
The victim was told that he would be placed under Digital Arrest and that he will have to follow the terms related to this. The scammers then on the pretext of verifying the bank accounts of the victim, induced him to share his bank balances.
The victim then told them that he had some money lying in fixed deposits and five acres of agricultural land, after which the scammers induced him to redeem his fixed deposits and transfer the same in beneficiary bank accounts. The victim transferred Rs 28.30 lakh to the scammers.
Later when the victim told them that he had no money left with him, the scammers told him to mortgage his agricultural land and send them Rs 60 lakh. The victim sensed something foul and consulted his friend who informed him that he had been duped. The victim then approached cyber crime police and lodged a complaint in the matter last week.
