A top executive at a multinational company in Bengaluru lost Rs 51 lakh in a 10-hour scam. The executive, who is the product marketing head, was fooled into thinking she was under investigation by law enforcement agencies.
On September 17, around 9:50 am, the victim received a call from someone claiming to be from FedEx. Following the instructions, she spoke to a person named Ashwin Kumar from FedEx customer care. Kumar informed her that her Aadhaar details had been used to send a parcel with MDMA (a drug illegally manufactured) to Iran, which was intercepted by Mumbai police.
She was then connected to another person, Pradeep, claiming to be a senior inspector from Mumbai cybercrime department. The executive overheard someone telling Pradeep her Aadhaar was linked to illegal activities in Jammu & Kashmir, West Bengal, and Karnataka.
She was asked to join a Skype call with someone introducing themselves as DCP Milind Bharambe from Maharashtra, the victim said. He claimed her Aadhaar had been used to open illegal accounts across India and around Rs 9.7 crore had been moved through these accounts. Bharambe mentioned these funds were connected to drug trafficking, money laundering, and funding sleeper cells.
“He said the account was used for drug trafficking, money laundering, and funding sleeper cells to purchase AK-47 rifles,” the victim said.
She was told to keep it confidential and was informed she was under digital house arrest. The call was transferred to George Mathew from the Reserve Bank of India, who explained that her account would be investigated and any black money could lead to seven years in prison.
Mathew instructed her to open her bank mobile app and add eight beneficiaries to check her pre-approved loan status. He guided her to apply for a Rs 50 lakh loan, claiming it was needed for the investigation. Following these instructions, a loan amount of Rs 49,92,921 was transferred to her account. The fraudsters then immediately moved the loan amount to the new beneficiaries, along with other money in her bank account, totalling Rs 51.2 lakh.
This lasted 10 hours during which the victim was denied food and water. When she later reached out to the fraudsters to ask about the promised refund, they didn’t respond
