Notify the bank manager, quick police action prevented a “digital arrest” scam | Mumbai news

Navi Mumbai: Placed under ‘digital arrest’ for cyber fraud on November 13, a retired Nuclear Energy Corporation of India officer based in Koparhairan paid ₹21.94 lakh within two days to prevent physical arrest before the vigilant bank manager senses that something is amiss. The manager not only stopped the victim’s demand to split his fixed deposit amount ₹12 lakhs, thereby preventing further loss, he also informed the police and convinced the victim to file a complaint, initiating a domestic investigation to nab the accused.

According to police, the 80-year-old victim received a call on November 13 and the callers claimed that he was involved in a money laundering case in Hyderabad involving Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal. A worthwhile transaction ₹2 crore was made in his name and then the money was transferred to the terrorist group Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, senior citizens said. They claimed that he had received ₹20 lakh as transaction fee, said an arrest warrant had been issued in his name and placed him under “digital arrest”.

The scammers also told the senior citizen that his retirement account had been “seized” by law enforcement and asked him to provide details of all his savings, bank deposits and time deposits so they could investigate his alleged role. They then asked him to transfer the money to various bank accounts, assuming that it would be returned to him when he was proven innocent.

Terrified and ordered to stay in touch with the fraudsters via WhatsApp video call, the senior citizen handed over all the money in his bank accounts – in total ₹21.94 lakh – within the next few hours.

“He was then ordered to withdraw his fixed deposits and transfer the amount to several accounts,” Senior Police Inspector Audumber Patil of Koparhairane police station told Hindustan Times.

On November 14, around 4:30 p.m., the pensioner and his wife visited the Unity Small Finance bank branch in Koparhairan, where they had some time deposits. The couple sought to close these time deposits ₹12 lakh and transfer the money to Yes Bank account.

“As the couple wanted to withdraw their FDs and transfer such a large amount, bank officials asked why they were doing it. But they were unable to give a satisfactory answer and instead became agitated, saying that they had just been transferred ₹13 lakh from another bank account and were not questioned,” Laxman Dhamale, bank manager, told HT.

Bank employees then informed Dhamale about the situation. “I felt something was wrong and sent them back saying the server was down,” said Dhamale, 56.

As November 15 was a public holiday due to Guru Nanak’s birth anniversary, Dhamale visited the Yes Bank branch in Koparhairan on November 16 to find out more about the account to which the pensioner had been asked to transfer the money.

“Yes Bank employees informed me that there were transactions in the account amounting to Rs ₹4 crores in just two days. I realized it was a fraud and instructed my staff not to credit any amount to this account,” Dhamale said.

The manager also visited the 80-year-old retired officer at his home the same day after he refused to visit the bank to clarify matters and asked him and his wife to share their problem.

“The couple was scared and did not want to discuss the matter, because they believed that they were being watched, and there was a person standing near their house with the same goal. After much persuasion, they took me to another room and told me about their ‘digital arrest’ by a police inspector from Hyderabad,” he said.

Since a similar incident had taken place at the bank a few months earlier, Dhamale knew he had to tip off the police. On the same day, he visited the Koparhairane police station and informed the police about the situation, including the couple’s reluctance to file a complaint because they feared they were being watched.

Police officers launched an investigation to trace the bank accounts to which he was asked to transfer the money, a standard procedure that precedes the registration of a first information report in cases of cyber fraud. Investigation revealed that the bank accounts were located in Uttarakhand. The location of the mobile numbers from which the pensioner received calls was also traced in Uttarakhand.

Later, plainclothes policemen came to the pensioners to make sure they were not scared anymore. “Accompanied by bank officials, we explained to him that he was duped and urged him to file a complaint so that we can arrest the accused,” said a police officer.

On November 26, after a senior citizen filed a complaint, the police registered a case against four unidentified persons under Section 66C of the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000 and Sections 318(2) and (4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

“We have sent a team to Uttarakhand for further investigation,” said a police officer quoted earlier.