Posing as CBI, RBI officers, fraudsters dupe woman of Rs 4.8 crore

The fraud started with a call from a person who posed as a courier executive and told her that a parcel sent in her name to Thailand had been intercepted by Customs. She was told that five passports and a drug, MDMA, had been recovered. She was told that her case would be investigated by Mumbai police and CBI. The fraudsters posing as Mumbai police and CBI officers told her that she had been named in a drug trafficking and money laundering case. She was asked to remain in front of the phone camera as part of her digital arrest.

She was told by the fraudsters that in order to clear her name from the case, the funds in her account will have to be transferred to “RBI accounts”. She was given account numbers of mule accounts and was asked to transfer her savings, deposits and investments. After transferring Rs 4.82 crore of her life savings in eight large transactions to mule accounts, the fraudsters continued asking her for money. After she searched on the internet about such allegations, she found out that she had been cheated. She subsequently approached the Cyber crime police station and an FIR was registered on Monday.

Officials have 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.