A senior citizen living alone in Delhi’s Janakpuri came close to losing money to cyber fraudsters, but Delhi Police reached her first. Because investigators were following the money trail in an unrelated Rs 67 lakh digital arrest fraud, a trail that led them to her door in time to prevent her from losing more money, her case came to light only.
The Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations Unit (IFSO) of Delhi Police was investigating a digital arrest fraud reported on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal, in which Rs 67,30,300 was allegedly defrauded from a victim on 20 September.
Further checks on transactions flowing into that Axis Bank account led investigators to a separate savings account with South Indian Bank. At this stage, police could not immediately tell whether this second account was another mule account being used by the fraudsters, or whether it belonged to a fresh victim who was unknowingly sending money into an account controlled by the fraud network. The account holder was traced to an address in Janakpuri, West Delhi. A team from IFSO, including Inspector Parveen Kumar and other personnel, went to meet her and found that she was a senior citizen living alone. “The victim got a call from a woman who informed her that she is from the CBI.
The Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations Unit (IFSO) of Delhi Police was investigating a digital arrest fraud reported on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal, in which Rs 67,30,300 was allegedly defrauded from a victim on 20 September. The fraudsters made her transfer Rs 60 lakh.
A closer look at the account details and transaction pattern indicated that the South Indian Bank account belonged to a genuine individual, and that it may have been used in a cyber fraud without the account holder’s knowledge, according to Delhi Police. She was under digital arrest when they found her and she was severely distressed, according to police. The fraudster told the victim that all her bank accounts would be frozen. The investigating team is trying to stop the processing,” a senior police officer said.
