Online fraudsters put a 67-year-old Mumbai-based woman under "digital arrest" forcing her to pay Rs 14 lakh in lieu of clearing her name in a non-existent money laundering case, police have said.
According to the advisory by the cyber-security agency CERT-In, a digital arrest is one where victims receive a phone call, an e-mail, or a message stating that they are under investigation for some illicit activities such as identity theft or money laundering.
"The scammer threatens the victim with arrest or legal consequences unless he acts instantaneously. It goes with a sense of panicking so that any other wise thinking is doused in panic. He requests this money in 'satisfaction of clearing one's name', 'support the probe', or even some sort of 'refundable escrow account/security deposit. Those funds are withdrawn either by specified bank account[s] or UPI Id's," the advisory says.
Speaking on the case with the aged woman, a police official said on Monday, "The accused masqueraded as Delhi Telecom Department and Cyber Crime branch personnel. They placed her under 'digital arrest' after accusing her of being involved in a high-profile money laundering case. The crime took place between September 1 and 5. Victim resides in Mumbai's Kandivali West in the residence of sister-in-law.
The victim submitted a complaint at the North Region Cyber police station in Saturday. According to that complaint, she received a call regarding her on 1st September from an unknown who informed her that her case had been reported and registered in Delhi crime against her and that there was one person who had used an aadhar card at crime time.
The accused then coaxed her to speak with his associate, who introduced himself as cyber crime branch officer Rakesh Kumar, added the official. The girl was terrified after being taken to a room by him along with three fake Delhi Police letters and being threatened to be put behind bars between three to five years time by Kumar and the accused woman, who had named herself Shobha Sharma, said he. Then, Sharma asked the girl about her bank accounts, mutual funds, fixed deposits and asked her to come to the bank and transfer all investments into the account provided by her, added he.
"On Sharma's instructions, the victim went to the bank, broke fixed deposits, mutual funds as well as savings and deposited Rs 14 lakh in the given account number through RTGS. The caller promised to return the money after verification. The woman realized she had been cheated after talking to her son, following which she approached the police," the official said.
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