CA duped of ₹34.7L by cyber frauds using Naresh Goyal’s money laundering case
The case was registered following a complaint by the 34-year-old CA. According to the police, on March 10, the woman received a call from an unknown number
MUMBAI: A Chartered Accountant (CA) from Vile-Parle East has been duped of ₹34.70 lakh by cyber frauds claiming that her bank account and number are being used in the money laundering case related to Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal to siphon off crores of rupees. The frauds impersonated a Mumbai police officer and a CBI officer, putting her under fear of arrest and coercing her to transfer all the money she had to the bank accounts given by them.
The case was registered last week following a complaint lodged by the 34-year-old CA. According to the police, on March 10, the woman received a call from an unknown number who identified himself as a Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) officer and started talking to her by revealing her name, address and even her Aadhar card details.
“The caller told her that people were getting pesky calls from the mobile numbers registered in her name and a case was registered at the Chunabhatti police station and she should reach the police station immediately,” said a police officer.
When the complainant told him that she was not responsible for any such calls, the man gave her the option to come on a Skype call. “She soon got a video call on Skype from ‘Mumbai Police Station’ with the logo Mumbai police in the caller profile,” the police officer added.
When she accepted the call, a person sitting in a police uniform introduced him as Vinay Kumar, a sub-inspector at Chunabhatti police station. “The fake officer further told her that people were troubled because of the obscene messages and videos sent from SIM cards obtained in her name. The fraud even sent her a document which he claimed was a complaint in the case. He then told her that a bank account has been opened in a nationalised bank in her name and it has been used to launder crores of rupees related to the Naresh Goyal money laundering case,” said the police officer.
When she denied having bank accounts in any nationalised bank, she was asked to call on a Skype ID with a CBI logo on it. “A woman answered the complainant’s Skype call posed as a CBI officer and told her to check the Supreme Court website and provided the complainant a link to do that,” said the officer.
The website like the Supreme Court, had the apex court’s name, the national emblem, etc. The complainant was then asked to search her name on the link and then she found a non-bailable warrant issued against her by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
The officer said the link was to a fake Supreme Court website made by the accused to cheat the woman. “The fake CBI officer then started shouting at the complainant, threatening her with arrest and telling her to cooperate with the agency. She inquired about the complainant, her bank accounts and all her details,” said the police officer.
She then told her as the CBI investigation was ongoing, she should not tell anyone about the case and the inquiry. She should keep everything confidential, including even from her family members, or she will be booked for breach of confidentiality.
“The complainant was then asked to open the (fake) SC website again and download an order which mentioned that she should deposit ₹34.70 lakh in the bank accounts given in the order and that after the inquiry was over, the money would be refunded in seven days the order stated,” said the police officer.
Accordingly, the complainant prematurely broke her fixed deposits of ₹20.70 lakh and transferred that money along with another ₹14 lakh in her bank to the bank accounts given in the fake Supreme Court order.
“They had warned her not to inform anyone and even the police about the ‘CBI probe’ and kept sending messages to her every hour. The complainant, however, suspected some foul play, searched on the internet and found that she was cheated in a cyber fraud. She immediately approached the Cyber Police station and reported the incident,” said a Cyber police officer.
The Cyber Police have registered a case under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating), 465 (forgery), 170 (personating a public servant), and 384 (extortion) of the Indian Penal Code along with various sections of the Information Technology Act, against unknown people and investigations are underway through bank accounts said the police officer.