BENGALURU: ‘Courtroom drama' is what you would probably be familiar with in a reel-life scenario, given the surfeit of such dramatised versions of reality on the silver screen or the ‘idiot box'. But if there ever was a ‘courtroom drama' to leave one stumped with its near-total representation of reality, this would probably take the cake!
In a rare cyberfraud case, crooks ‘accused' a 59-year-old Bengaluru-based executive of money laundering, simulated a ‘courtroom', conducted a bogus online trial, denied him ‘bail', passed an adverse ‘order' and finally fleeced him of Rs 59 lakh.
Police helped the victim block his account and lodge a complaint on the cybercrime helpline No 1930.
A senior police officer said the miscreants had transferred the money fleeced from Rao to different accounts and UPI IDs. "We are trying to freeze the funds," the officer added.
KJ Rao, a resident of CV Raman Nagar here and the head of litigation at a multinational company (MNC) , said in his police complaint that the fraud happened between 11 am on Sept 12 and 2.30 pm on Sept 13.
Police said the criminals conversed only in English, unlike most other cases of cyberfrauds where Hindi is predominantly the medium of communication.
While in office on Sept 11, Rao received an automated call from an unknown number, saying all his mobile phone numbers would be blocked.
Rao told TOI his call was transferred to a person who claimed to be from the crime branch in Colaba, Mumbai.
"He said I was involved in money laundering and a mobile number registered in my name and with my Aadhaar Card details had been used to open an account in Canara Bank," Rao said.
Since he knew for sure he never had an account with Canara Bank, Rao tried to end the call, when suddenly he received a WhatsApp video call with a man in a police uniform at the other end, seated at a place that looked very much like a police station, Rao narrated.
At that point, Rao felt someone might have misused his Aadhaar Card.
"I offered to surrender at Indiranagar police station and get my name cleared, but I was sternly told not to move, saying that [local] police won't be aware of my case," Rao explained.
The call was then transferred to what the fraudsters claimed was a CBI office and a person who identified himself as investigating officer Rahul Gupta told Rao he was under ‘digital arrest'.
Later, under instructions from Gupta, Rao reached home and locked himself up in a room. The crooks then made a Skype call and kept him under surveillance. He was told he would be produced in court through video conferencing.
Gupta then connected Rao to what he claimed to be a ‘courtroom'.
"The set-up was similar to a real court hall, with a man in a judge's attire seated at an elevated bench. ‘Officers' who claimed to be from the prosecution, explained to the ‘judge' the ‘charges' against me," Rao further said.
Rao was then told that according to the ‘court order' and Reserve Bank of India guidelines, he needed to transfer Rs 59 lakh to multiple accounts, details of which would be shared with him.
"The crooks didn't let me sleep the whole night as they kept a watch over Skype. My mind just went blank and I didn't have a friend or family member to share my plight with," said Rao who lives alone in Bengaluru. His family is in Mumbai.
The next day, Rao transferred Rs 50 lakh and Rs 9 lakh to two different bank accounts.
The crooks disconnected the Skype call around 2.30 pm on Sept 13, after Rao had left the bank. It was only then that he realised he had been tricked and he rushed to Indiranagar police station to file a complaint.
Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India. Don't miss daily games like Crossword, Sudoku, and Mini Crossword.