Mangaluru
A man lost Rs 30 lakh in a scam where he was deceived by someone pretending to be a crime branch officer. On September 2, the victim received a Skype call at 1pm from an individual claiming to be the DIG of the Anti-Corruption Cell in Mumbai.
The caller, speaking in Hindi and English, informed the victim that a parcel sent to Iran containing drugs and illegal items had been seized, and legal action was being taken. The caller claimed that the victim’s name was linked to this case and that 24 fake bank accounts had been opened in his name, facilitating $24 million in hawala transactions. The caller threatened that the RBI would inspect his bank account turnover and demanded the victim’s account details. He instructed the victim to transfer all his funds to a specified account until the turnover check was complete.
On the same day, the victim transferred Rs 19 lakh via RTGS to an account named Shaniya Fashion. The scammer then contacted the victim again, stating that the RBI needed to verify the victim’s accounts at Bank of Baroda and demanded another transfer. The victim transferred Rs 11 lakh via RTGS from his Bank of Baroda account to an account named Alfalah Samiti on September 3.
When the scammer insisted on transferring the remaining money from ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank accounts, the victim visited ICICI Bank Marnamikatte branch. There, the bank manager alerted him to the scam. A case has been filed at the Surathkal police station. Despite requests for a refund, the fraudster assured that the funds were safe and would be returned after RBI checks but then turned off his phone.
