A 58-year-old from the city fell prey to a scam and was allegedly duped of Rs 40 lakh.
The victim, identified as Shrenik Vaishanv, a retired employee of Torrent Power, received a call on April 18 from an unknown person claiming to be Inspector Pradip Sawant from Mumbai. The caller informed Vaishanv that one Mohammed Iqbal Malik from Mumbai had created 24 fake bank accounts in his name.
The inspector instructed Vaishanv to join a Skype call and he was introduced to impersonators posing as DCP Bharambe, Crime Branch Commissioner Nitin Patil, and IPS George Matthew. However, during the call, the individuals did not show their faces but presented an image of Mohammed Iqbal Malik, asking Vaishanv if he recognized the person. The victim verified the person as Nawab Malik, a politician from Mumbai. The victim was told that Malik had created his fake accounts in his name.
The persons in the call interrogated him for involvement in money laundering and warned him to keep the investigation confidential or face immediate arrest.
On April 19, Vaishanv was instructed to transfer Rs 10 lakh to an Anti Money Laundering (AML) account for verification purposes, with the promise of returning the money along with a closure report. Subsequently, on April 22, he was asked to sell his shares and transfer the funds to third-party bank accounts under the pretext that these were AML verified accounts. The victim later transferred Rs 30 lakh to another fake account.
After transferring the money, Vaishanv realized he was duped when attempts to contact the purported officers went unanswered. Later, he approached police and filed an FIR with the cybercrime in Ahmedabad.