86-Year-Old Mumbai Woman Kept Under 'Digital Arrest' For 2 Months, Loses Rs 20 Crore
The perpetrators intimidated the victim by sending her fake Supreme Court notices and told her that there was an arrest and freeze warrant, and a confidential agreement in her name.
An 86-year-old woman from Mumbai lost Rs 20 crore after being kept under "digital arrest" by cyber criminals for two months. The perpetrators posed as CBI officers and accused her of money laundering. They threatened the elderly victim with arrest in the case, leading her to withdraw the staggering sum over a period of two months.
The woman’s ordeal started after she received a WhatsApp call from a person claiming to be CBI officer Sandeep Rao. He alleged that her bank account had been used for money laundering and that a major financial fraud was being investigated. He even alleged that the money transfers were made to Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal's account. The fraudster also threatened to arrest her children and freeze their bank accounts, Times Of India reported.
Fraudsters Sent SC Notices To Victim, Threatened Her Of Arrest
To make it look real, the perpetrators intimidated the victim by sending her fake Supreme Court notices and told her that there was an arrest warrant, freeze warrant, and a confidential agreement in her name.
The accused imposed restrictions on her, barring her from leaving the house or informing anyone about the situation. She was wanred that police would be sen to her house if she didn't cooperate.
The elderly woman confined heself to her room after this and would only step out for meals. Her house help noticed the behavioural changes and complained about it to her daughter. According to the police, the victim would stay isolated in her room and would yell at someone if disturbed, TOI reported.
The woman was asked to provide her bank details under the pretext of verification of funds linked to the "criminal activities" in money laundering. The accused even managed to extract the victim's family, business, and investments-related information over WhatsApp.
A police complaint was finally lodged on March 4, which brought the 'digital arrest' scam to light. Two accused, Shayan Sheikh (20) from Malad and Raziq Butt (20) from Mira Road, have been held in connection with the case.
It was revealed during investigations that the duo had been monitoring the elderly victim for nearly two months prior to the crime. They had asked her to transfer all her money to a 'court' account to clear her name and was promised that she would get a refund once the probe ends.
Out of the total stolen amount, Rs 5 lakh was transferred to Sheikh’s account, while Rs 9 lakh was sent to Butt’s account. The remaining funds were converted into Bitcoin, police said, as reported by TOI.
The accused maintained constant surveillance over the victim, contacting her every three hours to verify her location and ensuring she stayed at home. An investigation is underway to uncover the full extent of the fraud.
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