Sanyasi told his identity misused on dark web to buy drugs, loses Rs 27 lakh in cyber fraud

She told him that his phone connection was going to be disconnected in two hours because his Aadhaar number and SIM number was being misused for transactions on the dark web. Subsequently, he received a video call from a caller who identified himself as an officer of ‘cyber crime branch of Mumbai Police.’ This ‘officer’ told the complainant that his identity was misused to procure drugs and pistols for which he can face arrest. The complainant denied any involvement in illegal activity.

The caller convinced the complainant that few bank accounts had been opened by misusing his Aadhaar data and if the complainant cooperates with the probe, they can clear his name. The complainant believed all the claims by the cyber fraudsters and started complying with all their demands.

The caller told the complainant that he was required to be under surveillance and asked him to keep the video call on all the time. He was then asked to transfer all his savings, bank deposits to ‘RBI safe accounts’ and was told that it will be returned after verification. He was given details of a fraudulent bank account from a bank in Assam claiming it was ‘RBI safe account.’ The complainant transferred all the money, totalling Rs 27 lakh to the fraudulent account.

A while later, when he called back on the same number to ask when his money would be returned, no one answered the call. When the complainant narrated the incident to his sister, she told him that he had been swindled by cyber criminals. He subsequently approached the cyber crime cell and after a preliminary inquiry, a case was registered at Parvati police station.

An advisory issued by Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in May warned citizens 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. The advisory said that these fraudsters tell victims about drugs found in their parcel or their involvement in serious crime. 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 platform 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. MHA has said these crimes are organised cyber economic crime and are perpetrated by cross-border crime syndicates.