75-year-old woman duped in online scam worth Rs 21 Lakh by fraudsters posing as CBI officers | Mumbai News

Mumbai: A 75-year-old suburban woman fell prey to a scam where fraudsters ‘interrogated’ her online for three days and threatened her with arrest for criminal activities. The senior citizen was threatened to pay Rs 21 lakh to the scammers. They forced her to pawn her jewelry and take out a gold loan before she realized she was being cheated. The cyber police have registered an FIR.
Complainant lives alone. On August 20, she received a WhatsApp call from an unsaved number. The caller said he was at Delhi Customs and CBI had intercepted her parcel at Delhi airport. He said it had her name and Aadhaar number on it. The woman said she had not sent a package, but the caller said she had to appear in court because the package contained 19 fake passports, 159 grams of drugs and 65 ATM cards, which had to be sent to Singapore.
She then received a video call from a man posing as CBI officer Sunil Kumar. She saw a CBI logo behind him, but his face was not visible. He said her interrogation was confidential and he was not allowed to appear before her. She was told to keep her camera on and was “interrogated.”
The complainant told the fraudsters that there were children in the US and a caregiver was caring for her. The fraudsters told her to lock the door to her room and not tell anyone about the call. She was sent fake documents (an arrest warrant, a seizure order and a confidentiality agreement) via WhatsApp to convince her she was in legal trouble. She was told that a bank manager had misused her Aadhaar details and deposited human trafficking money into her account. They threatened her that the crime would be punishable by imprisonment.
“The complainant said she was elderly and could not travel to Delhi to appear in court. The fraudsters said they were convinced of her innocence but were helpless when an arrest warrant was issued,” a police officer said. The “interrogation” lasted for three days as the fraudsters forced her to transfer Rs 21 lakh to get the arrest warrant canceled and said the government would refund her money later.
They then forced her to pawn her gold and take out a bank loan. “On August 24, 25 and 26, the bank was closed. On August 27, on my way to the bank, I visited the police station to verify the claims. I was told that I had been cheated,” she said in her statement.