Cyber fraudsters in Jaipur committed another major crime, defrauding a retired RFC officer of ₹1.63 crore. Posing as officials from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the fraudsters threatened the elderly couple with digital arrest and threatened to implicate them in a fake case related to a pornographic video.
According to the victim, a resident of Jhotwara, he received a WhatsApp call around 10 a.m. on January 18th. The fraudsters then introduced themselves as officials from an investigating agency via video call and displayed a fake arrest warrant and a fund freezing notice from the Supreme Court. The fraudsters claimed that activities related to the pornographic video had been conducted using their SIM card, which could lead to a serious case being filed against them.
The fraudsters kept the elderly couple on a continuous call, calling it a “digital arrest,” and forbidding them from moving or speaking to anyone. Sometimes, the calls lasted for 8 to 10 hours. During the conversation, the fraudsters also came to know that the couple lives alone in Jaipur and their son lives in Bengaluru. After this, they threatened to file a case against the son as well, further scaring the couple.
Out of fear, the couple withdrew their life savings from FDs and transferred them to the bank accounts given by the fraudsters. The fraudsters deposited the money in four different accounts, in which Rs 18.20 lakh was transferred in Axis Bank, Rs 34.20 lakh in Yes Bank, Rs 27.95 lakh in Bank of Baroda and Rs 25.95 lakh in ICICI Bank.