BHUBANESWAR: Cyber criminals, posing as officials of central enforcement agencies, have allegedly duped an elderly man of a whopping Rs 1.5 crore on the pretext that founder and former chairman of Jet Airways Naresh Goyal had lodged a money laundering complaint against him.
Police said the complainant, a chartered accountant by procession, was trapped in the digital arrest scam for the last 10 days. “The scamsters contacted the victim and told him that they were officers of central enforcement agencies. They claimed that Goyal had lodged a money laundering complaint against him,” said a senior police officer.
The matter came to light after the victim lodged a complaint with the Cyber Crime and Economic Offence police on Thursday. “The victim was coerced to transfer the money in phases to withdraw the case against him. He reported the matter to police about nine to 10 days after he fell in the digital arrest scam,” the police officer added.
After the victim approached the police, he was asked to report the matter on national cyber crime portal, following which about Rs 14 lakh transferred from his bank account was blocked, said the senior police officer.
While the complaint was initially lodged at the Cyber Crime and Economic Offence police station in Bhubaneswar, it was transferred to CID-CB in Cuttack as the amount lost was quite significant. “On receiving the complaint, a case was registered and investigation launched into the matter,” said a CB officer.