The ‘ID playing cards’ of two faux officers who duped a retired man of Rs 85 lakh
New Delhi:
A retired senior government of a multinational agency was coerced into paying Rs 85 lakh by a gang posing as CBI, customs, narcotics, and income-tax officers – all on Skype. A police case has been filed in Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam, the place the fraud occurred, and Delhi too.
The gang took the cash by cheque, and transferred it to an organization referred to as ‘Rana Clothes’, which operated an HDFC account in Delhi’s Uttam Nagar. In keeping with the primary info report (FIR) filed with the police in Visakhapatnam, the gang transferred the cash from the HDFC account run by ‘Rana Clothes’ to 105 accounts throughout India.
HDFC Financial institution’s Uttam Nagar department has additionally filed a police criticism over fraud, the retired officer advised NDTV.
“I had three years of service left, however took voluntary retirement as I wanted time to arrange my son to ship to school aboard. I bought the retirement settlement on Might 2. My son’s visa appointment was on Might 17. However on Might 14, I used to be duped by the gang into sending Rs 85 lakh, which they mentioned can be returned after checking my information,” mentioned the distraught 57-year-old retired affiliate normal supervisor of a Germany-headquartered pharma agency with broad operations in India.
The Visakhapatnam Crime Department has taken over the case. Police sources within the coastal metropolis mentioned the case is underneath investigation, and they have some leads.
The retired officer alleged some insiders within the financial institution in Visakhapatnam could also be concerned, because the gang knew all the things about his account together with the precise quantity that he bought after retirement. “The gang advised me to go to the closest HDFC Financial institution and drop the cheque,” he advised NDTV.
The cheque within the title of an organization in Delhi, which the criminals used to ship Rs 85 lakh to 105 accounts throughout India
The Crime Department has taken a number of paperwork from the HDFC Financial institution department in Visakhapatnam, he mentioned, including the financial institution declined to touch upon the progress of the case when he met the financial institution officers.
“HDFC Financial institution mentioned they’re cooperating with the Crime Department. I’ve additionally advised the police, was no KYC (know your buyer) achieved for Rana Clothes by the Uttam Nagar (Delhi) department? The police in Delhi went to Rana Clothes and located the place was occupied by one other firm. The Rana Clothes proprietor is untraceable,” the retired officer mentioned.
In keeping with the FIR, after the retirement financial savings bought credited into the officer’s HDFC Checking account, he obtained a name from a person who recognized himself as “DCP Cyber Crime Balsing Rajput”. He advised the retired officer his title has come up on a number of narcotics and cash laundering circumstances and his Aadhaar has been linked to all these circumstances.
The faux DCP then dialled one other one that pretended to be his senior and requested if they need to file an FIR in opposition to the retired man.
The gang used a faux ‘acknowledgement letter’
“I used to be underneath immense strain and threatened by them that I’d be jailed there after which. The faux DCP after talking for some time along with his faux boss mentioned I look harmless, so they need to take the Rs 85 lakh for investigation and return it to me if the police discover nothing amiss,” the retired officer advised NDTV. “My ‘interrogation’ on Skype went on for 2 days. They didn’t let me depart dwelling or name anybody,” he mentioned.
The retired officer was ultimately made to deposit the cheque within the HDFC Financial institution department in Visakhapatnam with a promise by the faux officers that it could be returned to him after verification.
On whether or not the police have been in a position to observe down any of the 105 accounts of various banks to which the Rs 85 lakh was transferred from Rana Clothes’ account, the retired officer mentioned the police have declined to offer him details about their findings to date.
The retired officer has warned individuals to not reply WhatsApp video calls from unknown numbers. “The fraud quantity will shock you. In a single month, the Visakhapatnam cyber police obtained complaints amounting to Rs 300 crore,” he alleged.