Chandigarh: In yet another case of digital arrest, a resident of Dadu Majra was duped by fraudsters who harassed him over phone for nearly 20 days and finally forced him to transfer nearly Rs 51 lakh of his savings. The victim, Hari Nath, is a tutor by profession. He received a call on August 30 from a woman who introduced herself as an employee of a telecom company. She told him that all SIM cards linked to his Aadhaar card would be blocked within two hours as a number in his name was involved in money laundering activities. The woman told Nath that seven complaints and an FIR had been lodged in Mumbai about the suspicious phone number. Unable to understand the fraud, the woman asked Nath to speak to alleged police officials from Mumbai and gave him a phone number. When the victim called on that number, he was asked to make a WhatsApp video call.
On the video call, a man wearing a police uniform told Nath that a bank account in his name was allegedly involved in money laundering transactions worth Rs 650 crore. He was told that Rs 6.8 crore had been transferred from his account, following which the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had launched an investigation. The scammer claimed that Nath would be arrested within two hours provided he did not talk to the CBI officer over the phone during the investigation. The fraudsters, posing as officers, convinced Nath to give his financial details and transfer money for the purpose of an “investigation”, promising that the money would be returned. Fearing further trouble, the victim transferred Rs 48 lakh, liquidating his bank fixed deposits (FDs) and investments in the stock market. Several days later, the victim was told that he had been cleared of the charges, but would have to pay Rs 88,000 to get the FIR quashed and Rs 1.5 lakh as RBI investigation charges. When he did not get his money back, Nath realised he had been cheated, so he reported the matter to the police on October 24. The Cyber Crime Investigation Cell of the UT Police is investigating the case.
