Rajkot: A 63-year-old retired bank employee from Jamnagar lost Rs 42.25 lakh to cybercriminals who tricked him into ‘digital arrest’ for 15 days by pretending to be officials from central agencies and the police.Jamnagar Cybercrime police station registered an FIR based on a complaint filed by the victim, a resident of Kishanchowk, who retired from a nationalised bank in 2019.According to the complaint, on the morning of Oct 10 Oza got a call telling him that a senior official would contact him shortly. Moments later, a caller identifying as Rahul Kulkarni, a ‘senior executive officer’ with the Data Protection Board of India, told him that a sim card registered using his Aadhaar card was being used to circulate obscene photos, videos and illegal advertisements.Coerced into signing a written undertaking of secrecy, the man shared his Aadhaar details over WhatsApp. The fraudsters sent him a fabricated FIR copy purportedly from Colaba police station in Mumbai, fake bank statements, and photographs of six ‘suspected terrorists’ linked to Popular Front of India (PFI). They claimed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had recovered a debit card in his name during a raid on the residence of one Abdul Salem, and alleged that he had received a 10% commission from illegal transactions.The accused sent forged notices bearing the names of Enforcement Directorate (ED), Supreme Court of India, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), purporting to his implication in money laundering and terror funding.On Oct 11, an individual posing as a police officer via WhatsApp video call — keeping his face hidden — ordered the victim to isolate himself in a separate room at home, warning that disclosing the matter to anyone would result in his arrest for breaching national security. The caller instructed him to transfer his savings to specific accounts for a “financial trail audit” by a central auditor, assuring him the money would be returned once he was cleared.Over the next two weeks, the victim redeemed his fixed deposits and liquidated his mutual fund investments, transferring a total of Rs 42.25 lakh via RTGS in three transactions: Rs 15.25 lakh to a Central Bank of India account on Oct 12, Rs 10 lakh to a Bandhan Bank account on Oct 16, and Rs 17 lakh to another Bandhan Bank account on Oct 21. Through this 15-day period, he was forced to send WhatsApp messages every two hours confirming he was safe and inside his room.The scam came to light when the fraudsters demanded more money and the victim, having exhausted his funds, confided in his wife and brother.
