In the latest cybercrime incident, a Mumbai-based retired director of a multinational company (MNC) lost nearly Rs 25 crore to cyber fraudsters, who disguised as police and CBI officers. The fraudsters intimidated her saying she was being investigated in a money laundering case, officials said on Thursday. The incident occurred during two months starting February 6 this year, a police official said.
"The complainant, who stays in a western suburb, received a WhatsApp call with the caller posing as an official of the telecom department, who told her that her three mobile numbers will be deactivated.
When the victim, who is a senior citizen, sought to know the reason, the caller told her that he was connecting the call to a police officer," said the official.
Following this, another man posing as a police officer talked to her and said that they had received a money laundering complaint against her and her mobile numbers and Aadhaar card were found linked to the case. "The caller then transferred the call to another person, who posed as a CBI officer and threatened her with the money laundering case. The caller told her that if she wanted to get out of the case, she should deposit money into the bank accounts provided by him and assured that she will get her money back," the police official said.
Fraudsters opened current account in victim's name, says Mumbai Police
The fraudsters opened a current account in her name and asked her to deposit the demanded amount, assuring her that the money would be sent to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The caller also asked her to collect the receipt of the payment from the local police station.
Falling into the trap, the victim transferred around Rs 25 crore to the account and got scammed. Later she approached the Mumbai police and filed a complaint against unidentified fraudsters, the police official said. The cyber police station of the Mumbai crime branch initiated a probe into the case and has frozen 31 bank accounts so far.
(With PTI Inputs)
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