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Ludhiana: Frauds posing as CBI officers dupe retired accountant of ₹8L
Cyber crime station-house officer (SHO) inspector Jatinder Singh said a case was registered under sections 308(2), 319 (2), 318(4), 351 (2) and 61(2) the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS)
Cyber criminals posing as Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officers allegedly duped a 66-year-old retired accountant of over ₹8 lakh, officials said.
The added that the accused trapped the victim, Bhupinder Singh, by accusing him of laundering money for a private airline carrier and put him under a ‘digital arrest’, coercing him into transferring ₹8.08 lakh.
The case comes less than two months after Vardhman Group head and Padma Bhushan awardee SP Oswal, 82, was duped for ₹7 crore in a similar manner. Police said the modus operandi used this time is eerily similar to the Oswal case and they suspect the same mastermind is behind the two incidents.
Bhupinder Singh, who served as the chief accounting officer for Punjab Federation of Cooperative Sugar Mills, said he received a series of calls from the accused on October 31.
He said the accused claimed to be representatives of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and the CBI.
He said the callers accused him of using a Mumbai-based bank account for laundering money linked the private airliner.
Singh claimed the accused sent him fake arrest warrants and warned him against disclosing the matter to anyone.
The complainant said the fraudsters intimidated him by making a video call from what appeared to be a CBI office. He said a logo was visible in the background and the accused was weaking khakhi uniform. Singh said he was convinced of their legitimacy, and transferred the money in multiple transactions to bank accounts provided by the accused. Singh was told that the money was needed for a forensic examination of his transactions.
The complainant said the fraudsters issued a fake RBI receipt, promising the money would be returned within 72 hours. Throughout the con, the accused kept Singh under digital surveillance via video calls.
Singh’s suspicions were raised as the accused demanded ₹24 lakh from his Public Provident Fund (PPF) account. Singh refused and asked for his ₹8.08 lakh back, when the accused disconnected the calls and their phone numbers became unreachable.
Cyber crime station-house officer (SHO) inspector Jatinder Singh said a case was registered under sections 308(2), 319 (2), 318(4), 351 (2) and 61(2) the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). He said police are working with banks to identify the account holders who received the money.
“Given the similarities in the modus operandi, we suspect the same masterminds are behind this and the case involving SP Oswal. The investigation is ongoing,” said the inspector.
Second case in past two days
This is the second case of alleged online frauds involving ‘digital arrests’ in the past two days.
A retired Merchant Navy engineer, 73-year-old Harbans Singh from Rurka village in Dehlon, was duped of ₹24.2 lakh by cyber scammers posing as police officials. The fraudsters told the accused that he as implicated in child pornography and money laundering cases.
