A 65-year-old retired bank employee from Regent Park in Kolkata has been allegedly defrauded of nearly Rs 4.4 crore in a sophisticated digital arrest scam. The Kolkata Police Cyber Cell has managed to recover Rs 1.5 crore in connection with the fraud, officials confirmed on Thursday.
How the Scam Unfolded
The ordeal began on April 1 when the victim received a phone call from individuals posing as officials from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). The callers claimed that his mobile number was linked to illegal international telecom routing and suspicious financial transactions. To lend credibility to their claims, the cybercriminals then transferred the call to fake CBI investigators via WhatsApp video links.
To further convince the victim, the fraudsters sent forged legal documents. These documents, which included replicated government insignia, fake case numbers, and forged signatures, falsely implicated the senior citizen in an international money laundering operation. Over the following days, the scammers kept the victim under continuous video surveillance under the pretext of online judicial custody. They threatened to freeze his assets and arrest him if he disconnected the call.
Coercion and Financial Loss
Under duress, the victim was coerced into transferring Rs 4.4 crore into several bank accounts provided by the accused. The callers falsely assured him that the fund transfer was a security verification process and that the entire amount would be safely returned to his account upon completion of the investigation.
The fraud came to light when the victim's relatives verified that the callers were part of a massive cyber syndicate scam. The Kolkata Police Cyber Cell has officially registered an FIR and initiated a probe to trace the digital footprint of the accused and freeze the recipient bank accounts.
Legal Action
The case has been filed under Sections 66C and 66D of the Information Technology Act, 2000, read alongside sections under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, including criminal conspiracy, extortion, cheating, and forgery. Police are investigating the digital trail to identify and apprehend the perpetrators.
