City Businessman Cheated Of Rs 23 Lakh By Fraudsters

A 64-year-old businessman of Hyderabad received a call from someone claiming to be a senior head constable at the Lajpat Nagar Police Station, Delhi. The caller said that a case had been registered against him with case no NDHS/1306/2024 alleging that he was involved in a money laundering case with ICICI Bank.

The fraudster then transferred the call to a "Cyber Crime Inspector", who claimed that a Rs 300 crore money laundering case had been registered in the name of Nawab Malik, and that the businessman was also linked to the case.

The victim denied having any account in any branch of ICICI Bank in New Delhi and said that he did not know any Nawab Malik. Despite this, he received an "arrest warrant" and notices from "the CBI and the finance department" in his name.

The fraudsters then asked the victim to transfer an amount from his savings account for verification, assuring him that it would be returned within 15 minutes after verification. This was also mentioned in the notice sent by the fraudsters to the victim.

Believing the notice to be genuine, the victim transferred Rs 23,00,000 from his savings account in YES Bank and sent the RTGS details to the fraudster. After the transfer, the conman (posing as the DCP of Cyber crime) informed the victim that the money would be returned to his account after verification within 15 minutes. However, the conman then suddenly disconnected the video call, and all the notices and messages, and the arrest warrant, sent by them were deleted. Subsequently, the conmen did not respond to the victim's phone calls. The victim requested the police to take necessary action against the fraudsters.

Public advisory: If a call raises suspicions, the recipient should end the call immediately without engaging further with the caller, and without any fear report it to the nearest police station. Beware of FedEx / courier frauds. Scammers can employ psychological tactics to manipulate emotions and decision-making. Do not deposit money to any unknown bank accounts believing false promises or threats of unknown persons. Law enforcement officials do not initiate contact through Skype calls and do not insist on money transfer for clearing the issues.