Surat: A 29-year-old software engineer, was duped out of Rs 19.91 lakh by cybercriminals using the ‘digital arrest’ modus operandi. The accused — while pretending to be members of Mumbai Police, the ED, NCRB and the RBI — threatened her saying drugs had been found in a parcel she sent to Iran. They made her sequester herself for four hours, during which they got her to take an instant personal loan and send them the funds. Surat cybercrime police registered a complaint and started an investigation. According to the FIR filed by the software engineer, she has been working for a private company for the last two years, while her husband is an engineer working in Hazira. On Nov 28, while she was at her home in the Rander area, she got a call from a person claiming to be from the courier company FedEx. This person told her that drugs had been found in a parcel she sent to Iran. He told her her Aadhaar number and mobile number had been used to send the parcel. He then transferred the call to the ‘Mumbai crime branch’. A man who said he was Mumbai crime branch inspector Pradip Sawant sent her a Skype link, to ‘investigate’ her. Sawant sent her letters bearing the emblems of Mumbai Police, the Enforcement Directorate, the Reserve Bank of India and other agencies, to get her to cooperate. The accused got her to give them her ICICI bank account details. They then instructed her to transfer the money to an account they specified. As there was not much money in her bank account, they made her open her ICICI bank app and apply for a pre-approved instant bank loan. As soon as the money was credited, they told her to transfer it to an HDFC bank account. All of this took place between 2.35pm and 7pm on the same day. Surat cybercrime police registered a case and began an investigation.
Click Here For The Original Source.
