Mumbai Company Secretary duped of Rs 27 lakh in 20-day digital detention scam

MUMBAI: Despite nationwide awareness campaigns about digital detention scams, a woman from Mumbai fell prey to such a scam for over 20 days and lost Rs 27 lakh. The woman is a company secretary (CS) and advises business houses. The money lost in the scam had been saved up for her wedding. Central Cyber Police have registered an FIR.On Aug 18, the complainant received a call from one Priya Sharma posing as an employee of the Telecom Regulatory of India (TRAI) and threatening to block her phone number. Sharma claimed that the complainant's Aadhaar card had been misused for purchasing a Sim card at Sakinaka. The complainant said she had purchased no such Sim card. At this, Sharma alleged that 16 complainants had been filed for harassing text messages sent using this Sim card. She handed the call to her "senior" who asked the complainant to get a police NOC (no objection certificate). By now, the complainant was nervous. The "senior" said that an "online inquiry" would be carried out against her. She received a video call from a man dressed in a khaki uniform who accused her of operating 13 illegal bank accounts. She was also accused of human trafficking and money laundering and was refused an NOC.Next, the call was transferred to a man who claimed he was "Cyber DCP Bharambe from BKC. " He sent her documents like "notarised legalisation letter" and a "confidential agreement." She was told that if she cleared the inquiry then a police clearance certificate (PCC) would be given to her. The complainant was asked to send a screenshot of her bank balance, which she did. The "Cyber DCP" then told her to pay Rs 99000 towards "submission of assets for law enforcement inspection." She sent the money via UPI. Three days later, she received a call again from the fraudsters refusing a PCC. She was asked to carry out an "ED verification process" comprising three steps, which involved selling off her shares and transferring the money to the fraudsters. She was given two "acknowledgement letters from anti money laundering."On Aug 26, she once again received a call from the scammers asking her to apply for a loan and transfer them the money. Fortunately for the complainant, her loan application was rejected. By then, she had already transferred them Rs 27.20 lakh totally. On Sept 7, the fraudsters asked her to deactivate her mobile number and purchase a new one. She did so, but they never contacted her again. On Sept 8, she dialled cyber crime helpline '1930' and lodged a complaint.