Online fake money laundering fraud
Cyber criminals are devising new ways to cheat gullible people comprising of mostly senior citizens, to make quick money. One such new method is ‘Online fake money laundering fraud’, wherein people are duped under the pretext of their involvement in high profile money laundering cases. Read on to know and be aware about such frauds, preventive steps, online helpline and more
Modus Operandi
In this type of fraud, the fraudster calls from an unknown mobile number identifying himself as police officer from a different state to inform the victim that he is a suspect in one of high profile money laundering cases in the country. Later they are coerced to make huge money transfers for expediting the investigations and on other pretexts.
Case Study
A 73-year-old man from Wanawadi area in Pune city, was duped of Rs 25 lakh by online scammers in online fake money laundering fraud. He has lodged a complaint about it at Cyber Crime Police Station in Pune.
A caller claiming to be an Uttar Pradesh police officer alleged that the victim was involved in the Raj Kundra money laundering fraud case due to 55 fraudulent messages sent from his phone number. The panicked and confused victim was then instructed to contact the Santacruz police station in Mumbai to clear his name.
Through a video call, he was connected to another person posing as a Santacruz police officer. This fake police officer threatened him of severe consequences in the hour long questioning. As a result, the victim divulged personal and financial details under immense duress.
The complainant was coerced to write a confession admitting to being a ‘suspect in the Raj Kundra money laundering case’ due to the misuse of his personal information. He was also made to write a plea to the police to conduct a ‘priority investigation’ for proving his innocence and send a photograph of his confession.
Over the next two days, cyber criminals posing as various law enforcement officials, extorted a total of Rs 25 lakh from him under the pretext of conducting a ‘priority investigation’. They strictly ordered him not to inform about this to family members. The callers asked him for another Rs 15 lakh to remove his name from the case. At this point, the complainant realised that he was being cheated and lodged a police complaint.
Suresh Shinde, senior police inspector, cyber police station, Pune said, “We send cyber fraud complaints of upto Rs 25 lakh for investigation to the police station in whose jurisdiction the victim resides. We appeal to the people to not believe in calls from unknown mobile numbers stating that their name has come-up in any fraud case and not to give bank details to unknown people or transfer money online to clear their names.”
Meanwhile, as per media reports, businessman Raj Kundra’s lawyer, Prashant Patil, has said that his client has made a public appeal that any innocent person who has been scammed by such fake impostors should immediately report to the crime branch and file a criminal complaint against such imposters. It’s upon the law enforcement agencies to immediately take cognisance of such cybercrimes and immediately arrest such individuals who are allegedly responsible for this scam.
Union Ministry of Home Affairs Alert
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs has issued an alert on 14 May, 2024 against incidents of ‘Blackmail’ and ‘Digital Arrest’ by cyber criminals impersonating as officals of State or Union Territory Police, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Narcotics Department, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Enforcement Directorate (ED) and other law enforcement agencies. Citizens have been advised to be alert about such frauds. On receipt of such calls, the citizens have been told to report the incident on cybercrime helpline number 1930 or www. cybercrime.gov.in.
PREVENTIVE STEPS
- Do not believe in calls from unknown callers stating that you are involved in money laundering fraud and police complaint has been lodged against you
- Do not believe in threats of arrest due to your involvement in money laundering fraud
- Do not panic and share personal and financial details with unknown people
- Do not transfer money to unknown accounts on the unknown caller’s demand