Scientist under ‘digi-arrest’ defrauded of 3.48cr

MUMBAI: Three persons have been arrested for defrauding a 57-year-old scientist of ₹3

MUMBAI: Three persons have been arrested for defrauding a 57-year-old scientist of ₹3.48 crore in a case of ‘digital arrest’. The accused, identified as Anwarshad PS, 44, Amirshad KK, 28, and Muhsin C, 53, are residents of Kozhikode, Kerala, and were acting on instructions of a man identified only as Shahad, based in Dubai, now a wanted accused in the case.

Scientist under ‘digi-arrest’ defrauded of 3.48cr

The North Cyber Police said the complainant lives in Goregaon and works in a pharmaceutical firm as a senior scientist. He said he was contacted by an unknown person via WhatsApp, between August 31 and September 26, and told that a parcel sent via courier in his name contained narcotic drugs. When the complainant said he hadn’t sent any such parcel, the fraudsters claimed his Aadhar number was linked to the parcel and someone may have misused his Aadhar identification to send the drugs. They told the complainant he should file a case with the Delhi cyber police and gave him a number to call.

When the complainant dialed the number, no one responded but he later received a video call from the same number, in which he saw the caller in police uniform, identifying himself as a CBI officer named ‘Samadhan Pawar’. The fake CBI officer claimed that the complainant’s bank account had been used in a racket involving money laundering, child trafficking and drug smuggling.

The caller then instructed the complainant to provide sensitive banking and financial information, relating to his investments in mutual funds, stocks and fixed deposits. He also provided passwords and other details linked to his bank account. Eventually, the complainant transferred ₹3.48 crore from his account to various accounts – all this under instruction of the scamsters.

When he realised he had been scammed, the complainant reported the incident to the North Cyber police, who filed a First Information Report (FIR) against the unknown fraudsters. The police also managed to block ₹20 lakh in some of the bank accounts used by the scamsters, said a police officer.

Senior police inspector Suvarna Shinde, inspector Kiran Aher, and assistant police inspector Sandeep Pachgane investigated the case and managed to trace the bank account into which the victom had transferred money. The investigators eventually traced the suspects to Kerala and dispatched a police team to apprehend them.

Investigations had also revealed that Amirshad KK had received ₹90 lakh in his bank account from the complainant, on Shahad’s instructions. The sum was transferred to a current account held by a travel and tours company owned by Anwarshad and Amirshad. It was later converted into cryptocurrency and transferred to Shahad.

“This is just one group which handled a part of the defrauded amount. We are trying to trace other parts of the trail via the bank transfers of the defrauded sum, said police inspector Kiran Aher of the North Cyber police station.

Box: 57-year-old loses 1.59 cr to ‘insurance’ fraud

A 57-year-old Amboli resident was duped of ₹1.59 crore by cyber fraudsters, who coerced him to part with the money, claiming that non-payment would result in him losing an insurance amount of ₹3 crore. police said the Amboli resident in July 2022 had received a WhatsApp message from an unknown person, caned ‘Rajiv Sharma’, who claimed to be an official with the ‘finance department’. Sharma told him that his insurance policy was about to lapse, and he would lose an insurance payout of ₹3 crore if he failed to pay the ‘premium’ and ‘penalty’.

After the complainant paid the purported premium and penalty, the accused asked the complainant to share a copy of his bank pass book, cheque book, ATM card and PIN. Police found that a sum of ₹1.59 crore had been transferred from the complainant’s bank account to the fraudsters’ accounts.