Pune cyber fraud: Ex-IAF officer ‘threatened with arrest’ is duped of Rs 45 lakh, FIR lodged

A First Information Report in the case was registered at Vimantal police station earlier this week by the recently retired IAF Wing Commander, who is in his early 40s. In the third week of this month, he was contacted by a woman posing as an executive of a phone company. The woman told her that his phone would be disconnected in two hours because a complaint had been received against his number.

She told the complainant to make a video call to an online address, where a man wearing a police uniform and posing as an officer of Sahar police station in Mumbai spoke with him. The fraudster told the complainant that a “Supreme Court arrest warrant” had been issued against him in “a case of human trafficking and money laundering”.

The complainant was then asked to connect with a “public prosecutor”. In the call, the complainant had been told by the fraud prosecutor that he would have to deposit Rs 45 lakh to “government accounts” for verification so that “a certificate of clearance” could be issued to prove his innocence.

He had been told that the money would be returned to him after the verification process. Believing the con, the complainant made the transfer. The fraud prosecutor even told him that the hearing of the case had commenced in court.

The fraudster then went on to further demand Rs 17 lakh from the complainant as a surety amount that was needed to secure bail in the case. At this point, when the complainant spoke to a friend, he realised he had been cheated by cyber criminals. The complainant subsequently approached the Cyber Crime police station and after a preliminary probe, an FIR was registered at Vimantal police station.

“We have launched an investigation into the phone numbers and bank accounts used by the cyber criminals,” said an officer from Vimantal police station.

In an advisory issued about such online blackmail cases, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had said in May, “A large number of complaints are being reported on the 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 fraudsters typically call a potential victim and inform that the victim has sent or is the intended recipient of a parcel, which contains illegal goods, drugs, fake passports or any other contraband item. Sometimes, they also inform that a near or dear one of the victims has been found to be involved in a crime or an accident and is in their custody. A demand for money is made to compromise the ‘case’. In certain instances, unsuspecting victims are made to undergo ‘Digital Arrest’ and remain visually available over call, Skype or other video conferencing platforms to the fraudsters till their demands are met. The fraudsters are known to use studios modelled on police stations and government offices and wear uniforms to appear genuine. Across the country, several victims have lost large amounts of money to such criminals. This is an organised online economic crime and is learnt to be operated by cross-border crime syndicates.”