Thane: A 78-year-old man was coerced into paying Rs 68 lakh to fraudsters posing as officials from CBI, SBI and Mumbai cyber police who claimed that his Aadhaar details had been used to open a bank account that was used for money laundering.
The victim said he got a call from an unidentified number on Nov 22. As per police, the caller claimed to be a representative of SBI and said his credit card payment of Rs 1 lakh was due. The man said he owned no such credit card, following which he was connected to a fake cyber police official via a video call.
The fraudsters then claimed that his Aadhaar ID had been used to open an account with another bank, which had been flagged for money laundering. The victim later got a WhatsApp video call from a fake CBI officer, who threatened to invoke charges under Prevention of Money Laundering Act against him and also intimated him by saying his wife could face legal consequences as well. This conman told him that he needed to send Rs 68 lakh to a bank account as part of the investigation. Under fear and coercion, the man transferred the sum.
The senior citizen later approached Wagle Estate police when he realised he had been conned.
—Nishikant Karlikar