67-yr-old woman duped of Rs 1.14 cr on threat of arrest in ‘money-laundering case’
As per the FIR, the fraudsters, claiming to be Mumbai police officers, told the victim she had received 10 per cent commission per month from the multi-crore 'Naresh Goyal money-laundering case'.
Police said that between October 21 and November 29, the victim ended up sending Rs 1,14, 20, 188 into mule accounts of the fraudsters. (Representational Image) Cyber fraudsters posing as police officers in uniform duped a 67-year-old woman to the tune of Rs 1.14 crores by claiming she had received commission in the ‘Naresh Goyal money-laundering case’.
The victim, who is a retired corporate company executive, lodged the FIR in this case at the Cyber police station of Pimpri Chinchwad police on Friday.
As per the FIR, the conmen claiming to be Mumbai police officers contacted the victim via WhatsApp calls on October 21, 2024, saying they had received 17 complaints against her. They allegedly told the victim she had received 10 per cent commission per month from the multi-crore ‘Naresh Goyal money-laundering case’.
Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal is being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a Rs 538-crore money-laundering case. Police said the victim woman has no link with the case, but she was taken in as the conmen wore police uniforms when they threatened to arrest her on WhatsApp audio and video calls.
Claiming that a probe has been launched against her for money-laundering, the fraudsters allegedly made her transfer huge sums of money into different bank accounts.
Police said that between October 21 and November 29, the victim ended up sending Rs 1,14, 20, 188 into mule accounts of the cyber criminals.
Police said the victim had worked at a senior position in a corporation in the past. Police have booked the unidentified cyber fraudsters in this case under sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Information Technology (IT) Act. Senior police inspector Ravikiran Nale is investigating the case.
The Indian Express had earlier reported that at the heart of these scams are multilayered and geographically distributed multinational syndicates, siphoning money from unsuspecting victims to mule accounts and funnelling it to international cyber masterminds through the cryptocurrency route.
In an advisory issued about such online blackmail cases, the Ministry of Home Affairs stated in May —”A large number of complaints are being reported on National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP) regarding intimidation, blackmail, extortion and ‘digital arrests’ by cyber criminals posing as police authorities, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Narcotics Department, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Enforcement Directorate and other law enforcement agencies.”
These frauds were also highlighted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently in his ‘Mann Ki Baat’ programme.
Share
