How bank’s relationship manager rescued Gurgaon senior citizen from digital arrest trap

Police said the victim, a Gurgaon resident, received calls from persons pretending to be Mumbai Police and CBI officers on November 11. “They told him his mobile and Aadhaar numbers were linked to illegal activities… They threatened that he would be arrested and confined him to his house under digital arrest. Frightened, the man redeemed mutual funds worth Rs 5.9 crore and transferred Rs 20 lakh to an SBI account in Jamshedpur and Rs 44 lakh to an Axis Bank account in Bandra,” a city cyber police officer said.

“On November 13, Sabarwal contacted both the receiving banks, got the transactions put on hold, and froze the customer’s account. When he called the elderly man, he did not pick up initially out of fear. On November 18, he finally revealed the fraud and, encouraged by Sabarwal, filed a complaint at the Cyber Crime (East) police station,” the officer added.

Following this, police managed to freeze the two accounts to which the Rs 64 lakh was credited from the senior citizen’s account. “The amount is now being refunded to the victim,” said an officer.

On Friday, Gurgaon Police Commissioner Vikas Kumar Arora felicitated Sabarwal with Rs 20,000 in cash and a commendation certificate.

Speaking with The Indian Express on Saturday, Gurgaon Assistant Commissioner of Police (Cyber) Priyanshu Dewan said “abnormal transactions” within a short span of time should always be a cause of concern. “Banks should check the nature of the recipient accounts too… to see if the matter involves digital fraud. During our monthly meetings with banks, we flag unverified transactions that need to be tracked. In this case, the bank was on red alert and acted proactively.”