GUWAHATI: A 77-year-old man was allegedly duped of ₹3.14 crore in Delhi’s Noida after being put under "digital arrest" for over two weeks until March 12. The cybercrime branch police, investigating the case, recently dispatched two teams to Assam and West Bengal to track down suspects linked to the fraud.
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According to police officials, the victim received a call on February 25 from an unidentified number, where cybercriminals accused him of involvement in money laundering. The fraudsters manipulated him into transferring the amount over 16 days, convincing him that the process was part of an official investigation.
Station House Officer (SHO) Ranjeet Singh of the cybercrime branch stated that the elderly man visited the bank seven times and transferred the entire amount to five bank accounts in Assam and West Bengal. Investigators have managed to freeze ₹39 lakh so far and are tracing the money trail to recover more funds.
The police have recently registered a case under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology (IT) Act at the cybercrime branch, as the investigation further revealed that the cybercriminals further dispersed the money to multiple accounts to evade detection.
The victim, a retired board member of a government-owned insurance firm, resides in a high-rise apartment in Sector 75 with his elderly wife. Their children live abroad. Police officials said that when the couple first approached the cybercrime branch in Sector 36, they still believed the fraudsters were legitimate authorities.
Senior officers also noted that the victim's wife trusted that her husband would be safe following the "online interrogation," not realising it was a scam.
Further investigation is underway at the moment to recover the remaining funds and identify the masterminds behind the fraud.
