HYDERABAD: A 36-year-old woman who works at a private firm in Hyderabad was put under “digital arrest” and duped of Rs 44 lakh by cybercrooks. The fraudsters allegedly claimed that her phone was used for illegal advertising and harassment messages and that she was involved in Naresh Goyal’s money laundering case.
The well-fabricated scam began with an automated message allegedly from TRAI. She was affrighted by the fraudsters that her phone number would be blocked in two hours and that for more information, she could contact the given number.
Upon dialling the number, the victim was told that an FIR had been registered against her at Andheri police station. The fraudsters then gave her false FIR details and offered to forward her call to the cops to get a clarification letter and avoid blocking her number.
The fake cops told her that her ATM card was found during a raid at Naresh Goyal’s property and that Rs 6.8 crore fraudulent money was transacted through her bank account.
They forwarded fabricated letters claiming to be from the Supreme Court and Reserve Bank of India. They said they needed evidence to provide before the SC that she was not involved in the case and asked her to deposit all her funds through a link on a fake website of the SC that would divert the money to the RBI’s account.
Claiming that this was a highly sensitive case, they kept her under ‘surveillance’ and said she would be arrested if she revealed the case to anyone. The fraudsters also convinced her to break her mutual funds and transfer all her savings and fixed deposits for the alleged verification process.
After the victim finally transferred Rs 43.40 lakh to several bank accounts, she received another fake letter from the RBI stating that her money would be refunded once it was completely verified. However, her money was not refunded after being released from the “police surveillance”. She attempted to redial the same numbers but there was no response.
The victim has registered a complaint with the cybercrime police through the national helpline number 1930.