Pune-based elderly fabricator, 69, duped of ₹55 lakh by crooks impersonating CBI officers

Pune: Cybercrooks posing as Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officers duped a 69-year-old fabricator from Bhosari of Rs55 lakh last month, after threatening to arrest him in a bogus money-laundering case. The fraud occurred between May 10 and June 3 this year, and a case was registered with the Pimpri Chinchwad cyber police on Thursday.

An officer of the Pimpri Chinchwad cyber police said that the complainant and his son run a fabrication business. On May 10, he received a call from an unknown cellphone number. The caller introduced himself as a telecom officer from New Delhi and claimed that the complainant’s Aadhaar details were used for money laundering and drug trafficking.

After some time, the complainant received a video call from another cellphone number. The caller was in uniform and claimed that he was a CBI officer. He told the complainant that the CBI had arrested one Sandip Kumar and found the complainant’s Aadhaar card with him.

“The caller threatened to arrest the elderly man. He also told him not to tell anyone about the call and not to leave the house without his permission, virtually placing him under temporary ‘digital arrest’. The caller then asked the complainant to share his bank account statements under the pretext of verification,” he said.

According to the officer, the caller began to call the complainant regularly. On May 24, he shared a ‘CBI notice’ with the complainant.

“The caller told the complainant to transfer Rs39 lakh from one of his bank accounts and Rs16 lakh from another bank account to some given bank account numbers. He claimed that they wanted to tally the details with the bank accounts of accused Sandip Kumar. He also assured the complainant that the money would be returned within 24 hours,” the officer said.

“The terrified victim immediately transferred Rs55 lakh and lost it to the crooks,” the officer said, adding that till June 3, the complainant kept contacting the crook and asking for his money back. The scamsters kept avoiding him, citing different reasons.

“The complainant then informed his son about what happened, and the latter suggested that he approach the police,” he said.

The police have registered a case under sections 308 (extortion), 316 (criminal breach of trust), 318 (cheating), 319 (cheating by personation), and 336 (forgery) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with relevant sections of the Information Technology (IT) Act.