Thane man duped of Rs 28 lakh in ‘digital arrest’ scam

A 64yearold man from Maharashtras Thane district was allegedly duped of nearly Rs 28 lakh in a digital arrest scam news agency PTI reported quoting the police on FridayThe complainant a resident of Kalyan West alleged that between April 1 and April 7 he received multiple WhatsApp video and audio calls from unknown persons including some from international numbersldquoThe callers introduced themselves as police officials and claimed that the complainantrsquos bank accounts were linked to a money laundering case and terrorist activitiesrdquo an officer from Khadakpada Police Station told PTIThe accused allegedly threatened to ldquoarrestrdquo the senior citizen and coerced him into transferring money for ldquoverification and investigation purposesrdquo the officer saidUnder pressure and fear the man transferred Rs 279 lakh to bank accounts provided by the accused during the calls police said He later realised that he had been defraudedBased on his complaint the police registered a case on WednesdayldquoAn investigation is underway to trace the accused and identify the bank accounts used in the fraud We are also analysing call data records and digital evidencerdquo the investigating officer saidMumbai retired teacher duped of Rs 32 lakh in lsquodigital arrestrsquo scamA 63yearold retired teacher from Mumbai was put under a fake ldquodigital arrestrdquo and cheated of Rs 3269 lakh by fraudsters posing as officers of the antiterrorism squad ATSThe complainant a resident of Goregaon East was thrown into a state of fear when she received a call from men claiming to be officers from ATS The callers alleged that her bank account was linked to funding the infamous lsquoPulwama Terror Attackrsquo a claim designed to shock and intimidate the receiverCallers switch roles easilygtgt ATS inspector gtgt DCPgtgt They namedropped institutions like the Reserve Bank of India and the National Investigation Agency to sound legitimateThen came the documentsgtgt Fake FIRs and arrest warrantsgtgt Stamped lettersgtgt Even a socalled ldquoimmunity certificaterdquogtgt By then she was fully under their controlNot a oneoffgtgt Police say this was part of a larger setupgtgt Bank accounts rented outgtgt About 3 per cent commission per layergtgt Money moved through a chain of handlersHow they took Rs 3269 lakhThe ask was framed as a procedure They told her her money needed to be checked for legality So she transferred itgtgt Multiple transactionsgtgt UPI and NEFT gtgt Over several daysgtgt By the end Rs 3269997 goneArrests and the trailgtgt Four men have been arrested from Nandedgtgt Nilesh Pasamvar 25gtgt Shubham Jogdand 25gtgt Ajay Bhosle 25gtgt Siddharth Jondhale 19