Online fabricated notices of law agencies fraud
With the increase in usage of smart mobile phones, more and more people are using online methods to conduct their daily monetary transactions as it is easier and there’s no need to carry cash. But fraudsters are taking advantage of this by sending fabricated notices of law agencies to dupe gullible businessmen and others. Read on to know and be aware about such frauds, preventive steps, online helpline and more
Modus operandi
In this type of fraud, the scammer calls from an unknown mobile number identifying himself/herself as calling from Ministry of Telecommunications to inform the victim that some people are misusing his/her Aadhar card details and sending fraudulent messages to various people and there is a criminal case registered at a far off police station. A fabricated notice of a law agency is sent and the victim is threatened to share bank details and statements and then asked to transfer money to different accounts.
Case study
A 57-year-old businessman from Pune city received a mobile phone call on 3 March, 2024, at 4 pm from an unknown woman caller who identified herself as an official of Ministry of Telecommunications and said that fraudulent messages are being sent from his mobile number to various people and a police complaint has been lodged against him in this regard at Andheri East police station.
The woman caller diverted the call to Andheri police station. After a WhatsApp video call began from another mobile number, a notice on CBI letterhead was sent. The businessman was told, “Your case is under CBI jurisdiction and under National Security Act, you should not speak about it with anyone. On WhatsApp, I have sent a list containing the names and contact number details of some persons. Do you know them? CBI has collected evidence against you. Black money has been deposited in your bank account and RBI has asked to check funds in all your bank accounts. There must be only `5000 in your bank account and the remaining money has to be diverted to other accounts.”
The victim sent the three-month bank statements of accounts in HDFC, IDBI and Saraswat banks on WhatsApp to her after being threatened. A total of ` 1,03,13,900 was transferred out from the victim’s accounts through eight transactions.
He was asked to transfer ` 20 lakh to another account as it had been accidentally returned to him. This raised suspicion in the mind of the victim so he called his friend’s acquaintance Adv. Satyendra Mule. With Mule’s guidance, he has lodged a police complaint with cyber police station, Pune. Now the case has been transferred to Chatushringi police station for further investigation.
Yuvraj Nandre, police inspector, crime, Chatushringi police station said, “Investigations are in progress.” Advising people, he said, “In this age of smartphones and social media, people must not attend phone calls from unknown numbers. They must not believe if anyone tells them that a police complaint has been lodged against them and must never share their bank account details to unknown people. They must clearly tell them that they will visit the police station and enquire about the police complaint and take necessary action on it.”
PREVENTIVE STEPS
- Do not believe in calls from unknown callers stating misuse of your Aadhar number
- Do not panic and share bank account and statement details with unknown people
- Do not believe in threats made in the name of law agencies
- Do not transfer money to unknown accounts on the unknown caller’s demand