A 26-year-old woman from Borivali East, Mumbai, was scammed out of ₹1.7 lakh in a “digital arrest” fraud, said police adding that fraudsters duped her posing as Delhi Police officers.
According to the police, the woman, who works for a pharmaceutical company, received a call on November 19 and the suspect posed as an officer who was investigating a money laundering case involving Naresh Goyal, the jailed founder of Jet Airways.
The scammers informed her that her name had come up during the probe and threatened her with arrest. The call soon shifted to a video conference, during which the fraudsters claimed she was under “digital arrest” and instructed her to book a hotel room for further interrogation.
Police said as she checked into the hotel, they demanded she transfer ₹1.78 lakh to verify her bank account details. They also coerced her into stripping during the call, claiming it was necessary for a “body verification.”
After following their instructions and transferring the money, the woman realized she had been deceived. She filed a complaint with the police on November 28. A case has been registered under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act, and an investigation is underway.
This incident mirrors a similar scam in which fraudsters had previously used Naresh Goyal’s name to dupe Shri Paul Oswal, the chairman of Vardhman Group, into transferring ₹7 crore.
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