Posing as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and police officials, the scammers extracted over Rs3.5 crore from a 71-year-old man after trapping him in digital arrest fraud. They kept fleecing the senior citizen for two months with the threat of legal action in a fake case.
According to the police, the Boisar resident had last year received a WhatsApp call from a person, who claimed to be an officer from the Andheri police station. The elderly man was told that his PAN card had been used to obtain SIM linked with illegal activities. The fake cop said that the CBI has taken over the reins of the probe.
The complainant was told that he had been placed under digital arrest, said the police, adding that the scammer sought money on the pretext of freeing him. He was assured that the amount paid by him would be returned in the first week of March after a verification by the Reserve Bank of India.
The man transferred Rs3.56 crore in 17 online transactions and when he didn’t get back his money, he tried contacting the scammers, but in vain. He finally came to know about the fraud when he visited the police.
