By showing the fear of ‘digital arrest’, cyber thugs have committed a sensational fraud of Rs 1.85 crore from a 75 year old elderly woman. Jodhpur Police has exposed this big international cyber crime network and arrested four accused including a contractual employee of State Bank of India (SBI). One associate of this gang is still absconding and is being searched actively.
Giving information regarding this action taken on the instructions of Police Commissioner Sharat Kaviraj, the police said that Rajesh Maheshwari, resident of Kamla Nehru Nagar of Pratapnagar, had registered the case. His 75-year-old aunt Saraswati Devi had received a WhatsApp call on 13 February. The thugs introduced themselves as officers of the Mumbai Crime Branch and threatened that a Canara Bank account opened with their Aadhaar card had been used in a major fraud and they would be arrested immediately.
Crores of rupees embezzled in the name of RBI investigation
The accused threatened the old lady with ‘digital arrest’ and said that her money would have to be deposited for investigation by RBI, which would be returned later. The badly frightened victim transferred Rs 1 crore 85 lakh 23 thousand from SBI through RTGS on February 18 to the bank account specified by the fraudsters.
Money sent abroad through crypto currency (USDT)
Technical analysis of Cyber Station Police revealed that the main accused Mukesh Rao used the bank accounts of working class people by luring Ajay, a contractual employee of SBI (Pal Road branch). Huge amounts of fraud were withdrawn as soon as they came into these accounts. After this, digital currency (USDT) was purchased with that amount and sent to the network of cyber thugs located in the country and abroad.
Taking prompt action, the police arrested the main accused Mukesh Rao, Tilak Singh, Shivam Tomar and bank employee Ajay. Efforts are being made to recover the fraud amount by taking the accused on remand.
Police appeal: Police has alerted the general public and made it clear that no police or government agency ever makes ‘online’ or ‘digital arrest’. If you receive such threatening calls, immediately call cyber helpline number 1930.