A 70-year-old businessman in Thane fell victim to a sophisticated cyber fraud, losing Rs 40.5 lakh to scammers posing as police officers in a fabricated terror funding case.
Key Points
- A 70-year-old Thane businessman was allegedly defrauded of Rs 40.5 lakh in a cyber scam.
- Cyber fraudsters posed as police officers and falsely accused the victim of terror funding.
- The victim was coerced into transferring money into multiple bank accounts under the guise of an RBI verification process.
- Police have registered a case under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act and are investigating the cyber fraud.
A 70-year-old man from Maharashtra's Thane city was allegedly duped of Rs 40.5 lakh by cyber fraudsters, who posed as police officers and threatened to arrest him in a fake terror funding case, an official said on Monday.
The complainant, a former businessman from the Majiwada area, was targeted between April 9 and April 28, and, following his complaint, the Rabodi police registered a case on Saturday under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Information Technology Act, the official said.
Cyber Fraud Tactics Used In The Thane Scam
According to the police, the accused Ram Rakhan Gaikwad, Prem Kumar Gautam, and Rakesh Agarwal, named in the complaint, contacted the victim by phone, claiming to be police officers.
"They made the complainant download a mobile phone application called Signal and conducted video calls through it. The fraudsters allegedly informed the victim that the Anti-Terrorism Squad had registered a case against him in Lucknow and that money linked to the crime had been transferred to his bank account," the official from Rabodi police station said.
Victim Coerced Into Transferring Funds
The trio allegedly told the complainant that a warrant had been issued against him and that he would have to cooperate in an RBI verification process to prove that the money in his bank accounts was legitimate, he said.
"Fearing arrest, the complainant transferred Rs 40.5 lakh into six different bank accounts provided by the accused," the official said, adding that a probe is underway.
