Cyber fraudsters dupe retired govt official of ₹2.19 cr, 5 held in Delhi

The victim received a call from an individual claiming to be from Lucknow Police headquarters. The caller told him that two arrest warrants in a money laundering case were pending against him.

The intelligence fusion and strategic operations (IFSO) unit of Delhi Police has arrested five people from Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh in connection with a cyber fraud case.

The complainant was placed under round-the-clock WhatsApp surveillance and was instructed not to contact anyone.

Cambodia-based cyber criminals impersonating Indian law-enforcement agency officials persuaded a 78-year-old retired government official from Delhi into transferring over ₹2.19 crore after “digitally arresting” him, police said.

Deputy commissioner of police (IFSO) Vineet Kumar said that the victim told the police that in November last year, he received a call from an individual claiming to be Sumit Mishra from Lucknow Police headquarters. The caller told him that two arrest warrants in a money laundering case were pending against him.

Due to the victim’s old age and inability to visit the station, the fraudsters digitally made a fake arrest case number. Subsequently, a second caller named Prem Kumar Gautam contacted the victim and told him that his Aadhaar card had been misused, demanding details of his assets, which he provided, the DCP said.

“The complainant was placed under round-the-clock WhatsApp video surveillance and was instructed not to step out of his house or contact anyone. They also deployed an individual posing as a lawyer in a fake CBI office setup to pressurise the victim.The septuagenarian was eventually forced to transfer ₹2,19,18,000 in various accounts from November 26 and December 4,” added the DCP.

With the help of digital footprints and technical surveillance, the police arrested Dipesh Patidar,30, from his hometown, Barwani in Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday and recovered ₹1 crore cash from him. He ran an electronic items repair shop.

Another accused, Anshul Rathod,28, who rented out music systems for weddings, was arrested from the same place. Further probe led to the arrests of Shyam Babu Gupta,36, who owned a plastic plates manufacturing unit in Jhansi; Raghvendra Verma,25, who ran a motorcycle accessories shop and Devesh Singh,26, a first year B.Tech student, from a hotel in Lucknow, police added.

The DCP added that the cyber criminals impersonated officials from the police, CBI, customs, and other government agencies and informed the victims about cases registered against them. “Initially, they threatened the victims with arrest and penalties, and later said it could be a case of mistaken identity.”

They further instructed the victims to lodge a formal complaint, remain under their ‘surveillance’ and transfer their savings into a specified RBI mandated account for ‘verification,’ falsely promising return of money, he added.