A 68-year-old retired woman in Mumbai has been duped of over Rs 3 crore by fraudsters who put her under 'digital arrest' by impersonating former Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and officials from the CBI and the police.
The victim, who has been living in Andheri West for the past 26 years, said that she first received a call in August from someone claiming to be from the police. She then started getting video calls on WhatsApp from various mobile numbers.
During the video calls, the caller claimed that a fraudulent account had been opened at a bank using her Aadhaar card. The caller said that the account had been used for illegal financial transactions worth Rs 6 crore.
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When she clarified that she does not have an account with that bank, the scammers sent her pictures of a fake police complaint and documents bearing a CBI logo.
They even threatened to arrest her family and told her not to speak to anyone about the matter.
The scammers told the woman that she had been put under 24-hour surveillance and that her case was being heard. Shortly afterward, a man appeared on a video call, identifying himself as "Judge Chandrachud".
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The woman was questioned and then told that her bail had been denied. Following this, the fraudster instructed her to deposit all her money for "verification" to prove its legality.
She was told to redeem her mutual funds and transfer the money to various accounts via RTGS (Real-Time Gross Settlement). Scared of any police action, she then transferred Rs 3.71 crore.
The woman realised she was duped when the fraudsters later demanded more money.
She has filed a complaint with the cyber police, providing all the chat logs, call details, transaction records, and bank statements.
