Hyderabad: A 38-year-old government employee was duped of Rs 1 lakh by fraudsters pretending to be officials from the telecom department.
According to the reports, the victim received a call from scammers and he was told that his number would be blocked within two hours as Mumbai Ghatkopar police had received complaints from 17 individuals regarding illegal advertising, pornographic videos, and harassing text messages to the several people from his mobile number.
The victims informed the fraudsters that his mobile number did not belong to him. Subsequently, to create the illusion of authenticity, he received details of the fake FIR copy, and the call was transferred to the cybercrime branch. He was informed that his Aadhar was being used for money laundering by the most wanted criminal, Naresh Goyal.
Allegedly, Goyal had made statements indicating the transfer of funds into the victim’s Canara Bank account, implicating him in the illicit activity.
Exploiting the victim’s fear of arrest, the scammers asserted that arrest warrants sanctioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) were imminent. They further asserted that all of the victim’s funds would be seized and transferred to ED department accounts pending an investigation.
Under the guise of adherence to ED and RBI guidelines, the fraudsters pressured the victim to share his screen and initiate a transaction of Rs. 1 lakh from his bank account.
Realizing that he had been scammed, the victim lodged a complaint online, seeking help.
