Cybercriminals allegedly duped a Bengaluru-based Infosys executive to the tune of Rs 3.7 crore by pretending to be an official from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), and Mumbai police. The criminals threatened to arrest him on various charges including money laundering.
The hacker, who first called the victim on November 21, blackmailed him for the next three days to receive the amount, reported Times of India.
The fraudster told the Infosys executive that they had filed two complaints against him, one at Vakola police station in Mumbai and another for a money laundering case against his Aadhaar card credentials.
During the next two days, hackers forced the executive to transfer Rs 3.7 crore from his personal account to their bank accounts operating in different banks, said the police officer. They also assured the victim that after auditing his account, the money would be credited to his account.
Through investigation, it was found that the miscreants claimed to be TRAI officers and had a SIM card registered in the name of the complainant. The card was used for posting illegal advertisements. When the victim informed the hacker that the phone number mentioned wasn’t his, they informed him that it was procured using his Aadhaar Card credentials.
The cybercriminals transferred the call to another person who pretended to be a senior officer from the Mumbai police. They told the victim that he would have to visit them and the CBI in Mumbai and Delhi in connection with the investigation.
They kept threatening the victim with arrest. According to the victim, during a video call with accused, all the people were sitting in khaki and the location had a police station set up. They even displayed their ID cards and a fake copy of the complaint filed against the Infosys employee.
The panic-stricken person transferred the money to all the accounts they asked for. It was only then he realised that he had been tricked and immediately filed a complaint on November 25.
The victim shared the details of the call and other information about cybercriminals with the police. Acting on the inputs, cyber crime police have registered a case under the Information Technology Act and IPC Sections 419 and 420, said the report.
“Since the money lost is more than Rs 3 crore, the case will be transferred to the CID, quoted TOI as saying a senior police officer adding that the bank officials have been approached to freeze the accounts of the miscreants.
A senior police officer said that the imposter tricked people using the name of TRAI or courier service companies to extort money. “Receivers of such calls should either tell the fraudsters that they will report the matter to police or respond to such calls only after consulting their lawyers,” quoted the report to the officer.
Comments
0 comment