Digital arrest scammers, posing as CBI officers, allegedly duped an 81-year-old man from Santacruz, Mumbai, of Rs 10 lakh, the police said.
According to the police, the ‘investigation officer’ on December 9 made a video call to the elderly person, who had returned to India from Hong Kong only a few weeks ago, and threatened him to transfer money to a given account to evade arrest in a human trafficking case.
The police said that the complainant is a retired person and lives with his son in Hong Kong. He returned to Mumbai owing to the extreme cold weather in the foreign country and has since been living alone at his Santacruz house.
The ‘CBI officer’ told the victim that he has been put under ‘house arrest’ due to his involvement in human trafficking and money laundering cases, according to the First Information Report (FIR). The fraudster also ensured that the man did not leave his house nor called anyone for help. Under the pretext of investigation, they successfully persuaded him to transfer Rs 10 lakh in a bank account using RTGS, the police said
The elderly man had called back on the number of the ‘CBI officer’ after transferring the amount, but the phone was switched off, the man told the police. It was only then he realised that he was swindled.
The Santacruz police on Wednesday registered a cyber fraud case under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Information Technology Act and are trying to trace the accused, said a police officer.
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