Mumbai: Fraudster Dupes Woman CA of ₹8 Lakh with Arrest Threat; Malad Police Register Case

In a shocking case of fraud, a conman duped a woman Chartered Accountant (CA) by exploiting her fear of arrest. The Malad Police have registered a case regarding an ₹8 lakh fraud.

According to the police, the complainant is a woman CA who shares a joint bank account with her mother. Last week, she received a recorded call claiming to be from the "telephone authority," warning her that her phone would be deactivated in two hours. The call directed her to press “2” on her mobile if she wanted to speak to a representative. Trusting the instructions, she followed the prompt.

The fraudster, posing as a representative, told her that an unknown number linked to her Aadhaar card had 17 criminal cases registered against it in Delhi. To make the scam appear credible, he provided her with another phone number, falsely claiming it belonged to the Delhi Cyber Cell.

Soon after, the woman received a video call from a person dressed in a police uniform. The fraudster claimed to have transferred her case to the cybercrime department and introduced himself as an official investigating her "case." Pretending to be well-informed, he accused her of cloning fingerprints linked to her Aadhaar card to acquire the suspicious number.

To convince her further, the fraudster claimed that her bank account was under surveillance. Using this pretense, he extracted her account details. He then issued a fake notice, asking her to cooperate in the investigation and threatened her with dire consequences if she failed to comply.

The scam took a more dramatic turn when another person called her, claiming to be a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officer. He warned her that she could be detained for not cooperating. This fear tactic worked, and the woman transferred ₹8 lakh to the fraudster’s account.

After the transaction, the fraudster tried to confuse her with misleading assurances. However, realizing she had been duped, the woman approached the Malad Police Station and filed a complaint.

Based on her complaint, the police have registered a case and launched an investigation into the matter.