Four persons involved in a sophisticated digital arrest scam that defrauded a 76-year-old resident of Rs 1.60 crore have been arrested.
Cyber Crime (Image:DC)
Visakhapatnam: Four persons involved in a sophisticated digital arrest scam that defrauded a 76-year-old resident of Rs 1.60 crore have been arrested.
The accused were part of a gang that supplied money mule accounts to cybercriminals, who would then threaten and scare their victims through fake digital arrests. Many have been duped this way. Investigations showed that a majority of the beneficiary accounts were held at Gayatri urban cooperative bank ltd, located in the Karimnagar and Jagtial districts of Telangana state.
The arrested men, Goli Shashi Kumar (26), Gajula Naveen (25), Avunoori Naresh (23) and Raju Rajendhar (24), were produced in court and remanded to custody. Police said they have seized cash and several bank accounts used in the operation.
Police investigating the case said the 76-year-old man received a phone call from someone claiming to be a representative of Blue Dart courier service based in Mumbai. The caller claimed that a package had been booked in the victim's name from Mumbai to Taiwan and that customs officials had uncovered illegal and prohibited items within it.
The victim denied having booked any parcel. The scammers however managed to acquire his personal information, including his name, phone number and address, and used these to build trust and also instill fear in him in subsequent days.
The fraudsters escalated their schemes by threatening to file an FIR against the victim and hand the case over to the narcotics police. When the victim stated he could not travel to Mumbai for the investigation, the scammers proposed conducting an "online investigation" through a video call, but advised him to keep the matter confidential.
They further claimed that his bank accounts were implicated in money laundering and in the trafficking of illegal arms. Additionally, the fraudsters supplied a forged letter from the RBI, asserting that all accounts required verification and that the funds would be returned post-verification.
Out of “anxiety and fear,” the victim transferred Rs 1.60 crore to the bank accounts specified by the scammers. Later, by an afterthought, the victim filed a report with the cyber crime police.
The arrested men, Goli Shashi Kumar (26), Gajula Naveen (25), Avunoori Naresh (23) and Raju Rajendhar (24), were produced in court and remanded to custody. Police said they have seized cash and several bank accounts used in the operation.
Police investigating the case said the 76-year-old man received a phone call from someone claiming to be a representative of Blue Dart courier service based in Mumbai. The caller claimed that a package had been booked in the victim's name from Mumbai to Taiwan and that customs officials had uncovered illegal and prohibited items within it.
The victim denied having booked any parcel. The scammers however managed to acquire his personal information, including his name, phone number and address, and used these to build trust and also instill fear in him in subsequent days.
The fraudsters escalated their schemes by threatening to file an FIR against the victim and hand the case over to the narcotics police. When the victim stated he could not travel to Mumbai for the investigation, the scammers proposed conducting an "online investigation" through a video call, but advised him to keep the matter confidential.
They further claimed that his bank accounts were implicated in money laundering and in the trafficking of illegal arms. Additionally, the fraudsters supplied a forged letter from the RBI, asserting that all accounts required verification and that the funds would be returned post-verification.
Out of “anxiety and fear,” the victim transferred Rs 1.60 crore to the bank accounts specified by the scammers. Later, by an afterthought, the victim filed a report with the cyber crime police.
( Source : Deccan Chronicle )
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