Himachal Retired soldier becomes victim of cyber crime duped of Rs 61 lakh

PTI, December 05, 2024, Una (HP) : A retired army man in Himachal's Una district was allegedly duped of Rs 61 lakh by cyber criminals who threatened to implicate him in a money laundering case, police said on Thursday.

     

Rakesh Kumar, a retired Naib Subedar, is a resident of Haroli's Nagnoli village and is currently working as headmaster of a school.

In his complaint to the police, Kumar stated that on November 22, he received a message on his phone from a person who introduced himself as Inspector Hemraj Koli from Mumbai.

The message was followed by a video call during which the fraudster, Koli, told Kumar his Aadhaar card number and claimed that 17 people had registered complaints against him at Mumbai's Tilak Nagar Police Station.

The victim then received a second call from a person who introduced himself as Sub Inspector Sandeep Rao.

The fraudster told him that one Naresh Goyal had been arrested in a money laundering case and his ATM card was linked to Kumar's SIM card, DSP Haroli Mohan Rawat said.

He further claimed that the bank account linked to the ATM card had been used for a transaction of Rs 2 crore and was also connected to Kumar's account.

The fraudster then instructed Kumar to transfer all his money to a specified bank account for “verification," Rawat said.

In a state of panic, Kumar fell into the trap and transferred Rs 61.29 lakh to the accounts provided by the criminals.

A case has been registered against unknown persons and investigation is underway, Rawat said.