Senior citizen cheated of ₹68 lakh in digital arrest fraud

Police are searching for a group of scammers who duped a 78-year-old man of Rs 68 lakh, claiming that he was under investigation in a money laundering case.

According to the police, the complainant is a resident of Thane. On November 22, he received a call from a person claiming to be from the bank. The caller told the complainant that a credit card had been issued in his name and a payment of Rs 1 lakh was outstanding. After some time, the man received a video call from a person dressed in police uniform, who claimed to be an officer of Mumbai Cyber ​​Cell.

He told the complainant that his Aadhaar card was used for money laundering purposes and a criminal arrested for fraud of Rs 2.56 crore was in possession of the complainant's debit and credit cards. To scare the complainant, the scammers also shared a fake Supreme Court and Enforcement Directorate arrest warrant bearing the name of the complainant. The scammers then told the complainant that if he wanted to avoid the case, he would have to pay Rs 2.56 crore.

After the complainant said he did not have that much money, the scammers induced him to pay whatever money he had in his bank account. Out of fear, he transferred Rs 68 lakh from his bank account to the bank account of the beneficiary given by the scammers. Later when the complainant told his family member about the incident, they came to know that he had been cheated. After this he contacted the police and registered the crime.