Threatened with ED arrest, Mumbai man loses Rs 8 lakh to fraudsters

MUMBAI: A Chembur resident, under the fear of Enforcement Directorate (ED) action, lost Rs 8.2 lakh to a cyber fraudster who offered a settlement and made him share bank account details after a video call with a ‘policeman’.
On Thursday noon, the victim, who works as a researcher for a private firm, received a call and was told that his number would be blocked as it was being used for illegal advertising and text messages to the public.
The caller, whose Whatsapp status showed him in police uniform with a gun, told him that an FIR had been filed and summoned him to Chunabhatti police station, but the latter refused. The caller offered to record his statement online. He asked him if he had Skype on his phone, and said he would connect him to ‘sub-inspector Vinay Kumar Chaubey’ and told him to keep his Aadhaar, debit and credit cards ready. “The caller recorded his details and said his number and bank accounts were reflecting in the money-laundering case and he would be arrested...Chaubey asked him to contact a CBI officer and settle the matter,” said a cop. The victim made another call, where he was asked to open his banking app and add the caller as beneficiary. He got a message that Rs 8.2 lakh was debited from his account.