Mumbai Cyber Cell’s DCP Rashmi Karandikar has a message for those who believe that the anonymity that the internet affords can protect them forever – “We will get you”
“In November 2020, as the first wave of Covid waned, a middle-aged man approached Mumbai police’s Cyber Cell. He was cheated of Rs 33 lakh by a man who had promised to give his daughter a break in modelling and acting.
“The man had sold his house to fulfil his daughter’s dream. His wife was critically ill now and he had no money to pay for her treatment.
“The suspect was very sharp. He had used a fake online identity to con the desperate dad. When we investigated, we found that even in his off-line life the man had many identities.
“He used Aadhaar details of other people to create multiple companies, bank accounts and identities. Each time we thought we were close to nabbing him, we would hit a blank.
“Once, we tracked him to his lavish house in Pune, but he managed to slip away a few hours before we reached the address.
“There were times when we kept a watch on ATMs from where he was making withdrawals. But he would never turn up. It was like he was watching us.
“It took us six months and two separate investigating officers to finally crack the case. The accused turned out to be an MBA from Boston University and a batchmate of a known Bollywood actor.
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“When we nabbed him, he was driving a Porsche. We managed to recover every penny he had cheated out of the complainant.
“The look on the face of the complainant when he got his money back is what I try to recall when dealing with tough cases."
“The man had sold his house to fulfil his daughter’s dream. His wife was critically ill now and he had no money to pay for her treatment.
“The suspect was very sharp. He had used a fake online identity to con the desperate dad. When we investigated, we found that even in his off-line life the man had many identities.
“He used Aadhaar details of other people to create multiple companies, bank accounts and identities. Each time we thought we were close to nabbing him, we would hit a blank.
“Once, we tracked him to his lavish house in Pune, but he managed to slip away a few hours before we reached the address.
“There were times when we kept a watch on ATMs from where he was making withdrawals. But he would never turn up. It was like he was watching us.
“It took us six months and two separate investigating officers to finally crack the case. The accused turned out to be an MBA from Boston University and a batchmate of a known Bollywood actor.
"
“When we nabbed him, he was driving a Porsche. We managed to recover every penny he had cheated out of the complainant.
“The look on the face of the complainant when he got his money back is what I try to recall when dealing with tough cases."