Bengaluru Digital Arrest: Bengaluru techie loses Rs 11.8 crore in ‘digital arrest’ | Bengaluru News – Times of India

BENGALURU: A 39-year-old software engineer from GKVK Layout, near Hebbal fell prey to a digital arrest fraud recently and ended up losing Rs 11.8 crore.
In his complaint, Vikram (name changed) told North-East CEN Crime police that he lost the money between Nov 25 and Dec 12. Police termed the money lost as a huge amount, when compared to other such frauds.
Vikram received a call from the mobile number 8791120931 on Nov 11 at around 10.30am. The caller introduced himself as an officer from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and told Vikram that a sim card procured in his name was used for illegal advertisements and harassment messages. The fraudster informed him that his Aadhaar was used to procure it. He said they have initiated the process of blocking the sim and a case was registered at the Colaba cyber police station in Mumbai.
Later, another miscreant contacted him from mobile number 7420928275, claiming to be a police officer. He told Vikram that his Aadhar was used to open bank accounts for money laundering. They warned him not to disclose the call to anyone, including his family, as the fraud involved influential persons, who are already arrested in money laundering cases. They threatened to arrest him physically if he did not cooperate with the virtual investigation.
Vikram then received a call from another number, 9997342801. The fraudsters made him download the Skype app. Subsequently, a person in police uniform made a video call, claiming to be from the Mumbai police. He alleged that businessman Naresh Goyal had opened an account at Canara Bank using Vikram’s Aadhar and conducted transactions worth around Rs 6 crore.
On Nov 25, another fake police officer contacted Vikram on Skype, claiming that the case against him was being heard in the Supreme Court and that the hearing needed to be completed. He threatened to arrest Vikram’s family members if he did not comply with the hearing.
Later, they told him that according to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines, they needed to verify his bank account transactions and instructed him to transfer money to accounts, provided by them for verification, assuring him that it would be returned.
Fearing arrest, Vikram first transferred Rs 75 lakh to a bank account and later, Rs 3.41 crore to another account. By Dec 12, he had transferred Rs 11.8 crore to various accounts provided by the fraudsters. As the fraudsters raised more demands, Vikram realised he was a victim of a cyber fraud and rushed to police on Dec 12.
A case was registered under the Information Technology Act and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 318 (cheating) and 319 (cheating by impersonation). The investigation is in progress. The victim refused to comment.