A 73-year-old woman, resident of Mansa Devi Complex, Sector 6, Panchkula, here, was cheated of Rs 16 lakh in the name of ‘digital capture’ and a fake money laundering case.
The complainant, Roma Bhalla, said she lived with her husband in Panchkula while their children were married and living abroad.
She said she received a phone call on October 24 and the caller claimed to be from a US-based company, FedEx. She said: “He told me that a package sent to Iran in my name had been seized by regulatory authorities and that fake passports, drugs and a few debit and credit cards had been found in the package.”
She said another person claimed to be an inspector from Mumbai’s cybercrime wing and asked her to join a telegram call with the DCP in the area. She was then sent some photos showing a man in police custody and told it was money laundering; therefore, she had to stay in her house and not reveal this information to anyone as she was under digital arrest.
The fraudsters collected her debit and credit card details and also asked her to transfer her mutual fund deposits to their account. The cheaters also instructed her to transfer money from her bank accounts to them, stating that the money should be transferred to an RBI savings account, which would be returned to her within two days. The woman then transferred Rs 16 lakh to various bank accounts as instructed.
The police have reported this case to various departments of the BNZ.