Retired Army colonel in Pune loses Rs 62 lakh to ‘digital arrest’ fraud, threatened with action in ‘Rs 500 crore hawala scam’

According to officials, the elder national received a telephone from an chartless WhatsApp fig sometime astir mid-December past year. The caller identified himself arsenic “Constable Vivek from the Delhi Cyber Cell”. He allegedly said that a hawala scam lawsuit of Rs 500 crore had been registered against the retired colonel and that the telephone was being transferred to his elder officer.

Later, a idiosyncratic wearing a constabulary azygous came connected the telephone and identified himself arsenic “DCP, Delhi Cyber Cell”, officials said. The fraudster allegedly told the complainant that the “hawala wealth laundering case” against him was being probed and helium would person to sojourn Delhi oregon look arrest. The fraudster aboriginal said that since the complainant was a elder citizen, the connection could beryllium recorded online too, officials added.

On the pretext of a probe, the fraudster asked the complainant to stock details of his savings and deposits, among different fiscal details, the elder national said successful his complaint. He was past asked to stay connected video telephone for a portion and not to telephone oregon pass with anyone arsenic helium was nether ‘digital arrest’.

The fraudster told the complainant that each his savings and investments would person to beryllium transferred to ‘government accounts’ for the probe and would beryllium returned to him aft the probe was over, officials said. In 3 transactions implicit 5 days, the complainant transferred Rs 62 lakh to fraud slope accounts registered successful villages successful Karnataka, Assam and Madhya Pradesh, helium told the police.

Two days later, erstwhile the complainant called the fig to inquire for his wealth back, nary 1 answered, helium said. He realised helium had been cheated and contacted the cyber transgression helpline and Pune police’s cyber transgression constabulary station. A probe has been launched successful the case.

Multiple cases person been reported successful the past successful Pune successful which some serving and retired officers of the equipped forces person been cheated successful cyber scams, including stock trading frauds. Multiple advisories person been issued by assorted equipped forces formations successful the caller past asking serving and retired unit to travel rules of cyber hygiene.

The Indian Express has reported that multilayered and geographically distributed multinational syndicates prevarication astatine the bosom of specified scams, siphoning wealth from unsuspecting victims to mule accounts and funnelling it to planetary cyber masterminds done the cryptocurrency route.

An advisory astir specified online blackmail cases was issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs successful May. These frauds were besides highlighted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi past twelvemonth successful his ‘Mann Ki Baat; programme.

In November past year, a 59-year-old elder IT enforcement from Pune mislaid Rs 6.29 crore successful a integer apprehension fraud to online criminals who posed arsenic CBI officers.

Recently, a 78-year-old pistillate was swindled for Rs 4.37 crore aft she endured a month-long ordeal successful which she was manipulated by online criminals posing arsenic CBI officers who threatened her with apprehension for alleged cause trafficking charges.