A fraudster posing as an NIA deputy inspector general allegedly coerced a 67-year-old woman into transferring Rs 61 lakh, including money raised by mortgaging her gold jewellery.
A 67-year-old woman in Mumbai was allegedly cheated out of Rs 61 lakh after a fraudster posing as a senior officer from the National Investigation Agency convinced her that she was being linked to terror financing, according to a police complaint filed with Khar police.
The scam began on October 1, when the woman, who lives in Kolkata and has two children in Bandra West, received a WhatsApp call from a man claiming to be a deputy inspector general with the NIA. He told her that a Canara Bank account in her name, held at an Andheri branch, was being used to fund terrorists and warned that an arrest warrant had been issued. The complainant initially denied having any such account, but the caller strengthened his claim by correctly reciting her Aadhaar number, making the threat seem credible.
Police said the fraudster deepened the pressure by sending her a video that purported to show police officers beating four people and alleging that they were tied to terrorism. Fearing arrest, the woman complied with his instructions and transferred Rs 25 lakh, followed by another Rs 7 lakh to accounts supplied by the caller. According to the complaint, the scammer kept pressing for more money and then told her to mortgage her gold jewellery when she said she had no more funds.
The woman later withdrew her jewellery from a bank locker, mortgaged it and sent the remaining money as instructed, taking the total amount transferred to Rs 61 lakh. The caller then told her to travel to Mumbai and continue the discussion after arriving. She reached the city on October 14, when her daughter noticed that she was distressed and persuaded her to explain what had happened. Only then did the family realise that she had been trapped in a cyber fraud.
After the family approached police, Khar police registered a case on October 16 against an unidentified person under Section 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which covers cheating, along with relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act. Investigators are continuing to trace the accounts used in the scam.
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