Fake ‘CBI Director’ drains Pune octogenarian of Rs 3.46 crore life savings in digital arrest scam
A Pune octogenarian lost Rs 3.46 crore after cyber fraudsters posing as CBI officials placed him under a fake ‘digital arrest’ scam.
The octogenarian was pressured into making as many as 15 large transfers under threats of arrest and imprisonment.(Representative Photo) Posing as the Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), cyber fraudsters coerced a Pune resident in his late 80s to transfer Rs 3.46 crore of his life savings to mule accounts falsely claimed to be “Reserve Bank of India (RBI) accounts”, after accusing him of “money laundering” in a digital arrest scam. The octogenarian was pressured into making as many as 15 large transfers under threats of arrest and imprisonment.
A First Information Report was registered on the complaint of an 87-year-old Pune resident, retired from a senior position at a multinational appliances company. Between February 21 and April 16 this year, the complainant was repeatedly threatened over video calls by cyber fraudsters and continued believing and complying with their demands. The scam started with the complainant receiving a video call from a man who identified himself as an executive of a phone company. This fraudster told the victim that a CBI inquiry has been ordered against his phone number and that an officer from CBI headquarters will call him.
The victim then received a call from a man sitting in police uniform who told him that an arrest warrant has been issued against him and he will be arrested soon. However this fraudster told the complainant that considering his age, the inquiry will happen on video call and that “CBI Director Samadhan Pawar” will call him. Subsequently another suspect posing as the CBI director called him and told him that he had been placed under “digital arrest” for money laundering. He claimed that all the savings, deposits and investments of the victim will be scrutinised for which funds will have to be transferred to “RBI accounts”. He was threatened not to disclose “the case” with anyone.
Over seven weeks, the fraudsters kept seeking money from the victim and he kept transferring. A total of Rs 3.46 crore of the victim’s life savings were drained by fraudsters and siphoned to mule accounts located all across the country. Meanwhile, the complainant discussed the developments with some family members and was made to realise that he had been duped. He subsequently approached the Cyber crime police station of Pune city and a case was registered recently.
Officials have repeatedly expressed concern that despite extensive awareness campaigns and sensitisation efforts by the government and law enforcement agencies, incidents of digital arrest, online extortion and blackmail continue to be reported. These scams are typically carried out by cyber criminals impersonating officials from law enforcement agencies such as the police, CBI, Narcotics Department, RBI, and Enforcement Directorate and judges.
Such frauds have been serious enough to be flagged at the highest levels, including by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his ‘Mann Ki Baat’ address. As previously reported by Express, these scams are orchestrated by complex, multilayered syndicates operating across borders.
Victims’ money is often funneled into mule accounts and then routed to international cybercrime networks through cryptocurrency channels.
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