MUMBAI: The police have arrested three persons, including two teenagers, for their alleged involvement in a case where a 67-year-old retired teacher was placed under digital detention by cyber fraudsters who cheated her of Rs 5.47 crore.
The victim, a resident of western suburbs, was threatened with arrest in a fake money laundering case, claiming her bank account details and mobile phone number were used in the case.
The wanted accused posed as employees of the Telephone Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Mumbai cyber police, and the CBI and sent her a fake arrest warrant in the name of Supreme Court via WhatsApp.
The arrested accused included Shabbir Ansari (39), who works in a finance company, and Hasan Kadiwala and Farzan Shaikh, both 18. While Kadiwala is studying in a college, Shaikh works for an app-based food delivery company.
She told police that she received a phone call on Nov 16 from a person who claimed to be Rajiv Sinha of the TRAI. Sinha allegedly told her that her mobile number would be deactivated since it was found involved in illegal activities.
She told him that the number he mentioned did not belong to her. He then asked her to lodge a complaint with the Mumbai cyber police.
Soon, she received a WhatsApp call from a person who claimed to be sub-inspector Pradip Sawant of the cyber police, who said that her statement would be recorded through a video call and asked her to download the Skype app.
She again said she or her number was not involved in any illegal activity. During the Skype call, a person in a police uniform appeared on the screen and asked her not to inform anyone about it.
Later, another person, Ranveer Yadav, claiming to be a CBI officer, said that her arrest could be postponed till Nov 20 and asked her to send her entire money to an RBI account for investigation. She broke her FD too. In six transactions, she sent Rs 5.26 crore to the accused. She then sent Rs 21 lakh from her credit card. When she informed a neighbour about it, he told her that she was cheated by scamsters. She then lodged an FIR.
A team supervised by DCP Datta Nalawade, comprising senior inspector Datta Chavan, sub-inspector Dr Nitin Gacche, and staff Sangram Jadhav, Mayur Ingale, and Suyesh Lokare, began the probe. The police learned Rs 9.84 lakh was transferred from a wanted accused person’s account to Ansari’s.
He withdrew cash and gave it to Kadiwala, who deducted his commission and handed over the money to Shaikh. Shaikh further deducted his commission and gave it to a wanted accused for trading in the USDT. While Shaikh is a Malad resident, the two teenagers are from Mira Road.