HYDERABAD: An 82-year-old retired central government employee from Banjara Hills was kept under “digital arrest” by fraudsters and duped of `72 lakh.
The victim told police that on August 11, he received a WhatsApp video call from a man claiming to be with the Mumbai Crime Branch, who linked him to an alleged case involving former Jet Airways chairman Naresh Goyal.
The caller alleged that 247 ATM cards were seized during a raid, one of which was in the victim’s name, linked to a Rs 2 crore money laundering case, and that his Aadhaar card had been fraudulently used.
Despite denying any involvement, the victim was coerced into writing a letter of innocence and keeping his video call active through the night. On August 12, another caller arranged a video conference with a man impersonating a Supreme Court judge, who told him his Aadhaar was used to obtain a mobile number connected to illegal activities.
The fraudsters warned him not to disclose the matter to anyone and threatened him with dire consequences. Believing the call to be genuine, the victim shared his bank details. On August 13, following the instructions of a person posing as an IPS officer, he transferred `72 lakh into an account supposedly for “RBI verification.”
The video call continued until August 18, after which the fraudsters stopped responding. Only later, upon reading about similar scams in newspapers, did the victim realise he had been duped.