A retired MNC head has lost nearly Rs 25 Crore to scamsters who posed as CBI officer and police official. The woman was told that there was a probe of money laundering against her, and was asked to deposit an amount to a new current account. She was assured that her money was being sent to the RBI, and she would get it back soon. However, the woman did not get it. Then, she approached the police.
The Mumbai Police has unearthed a “biggest cyber fraud” of targeting an individual in the city in recent times. A woman who is a resident of western suburbs was cheated of Rs 25 crore by some individuals who posed as police and CBI officers. In the alleged scam, the woman, who is a retired director of a multinational company (MNC), lost nearly Rs 25 crore to cyber fraudsters. The police on Thursday said the accused intimidated her saying she was being probed in a money laundering case. She was asked to pay a certain amount to a new current account after being assured her she would get her money back, which never happened.
According to the police, the woman was threatened. In response to which, she followed what the scamsters asked her to do and sold shares of her and her mother’s, and also mutual fund investments. The victim even took out a gold loan to pay money to them. The officials informed that the incident took place during a two-month period starting February 6 this year.
“The complainant, who stays in a western suburb, received a WhatsApp call with the caller posing as an official of the telecom department, who told her that her three mobile numbers will be deactivated. When the victim, who is a senior citizen, sought to know the reason, the caller told her that he was connecting the call to a police officer,” he said.
After the first call, the woman was connected to another man posing as a police officer. He said they have received a money laundering complaint against her and her mobile numbers and Aadhaar card was found linked to the case, the police said.