Bengaluru: Executive duped of Rs 59 lakh by cybercriminals who faked courtroom trial on video call

Bengaluru: An executive of a multinational company was allegedly duped of Rs 59 lakh after he was made to believe that his 'Know Your Customer' (KYC) documents were used for money laundering, police said on Thursday.

The cybercriminals also faked a courtroom trial with a judge on video call and the 59-year-old victim was allegedly held under surveillance online overnight until he transferred the amount from his bank accounts, they said.

In his complaint, the victim alleged that on September 12, he received a video call from a person claiming to be from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), who told him that his mobile number will be blocked. "And for details, this person asked me to press 9. When I dialed 9, my call got diverted," the complainant said.

His call was then connected to a man who claimed to be a crime branch officer based out of Mumbai and he told the victim that his Aadhaar card was used to open a bank account through which alleged money laundering was being done.

Then the call was connected to an investigating officer who claimed to be from the CBI. He was connected to the "court" where during proceedings it passed an "order" to transfer all the victim's money, including those in the fixed deposit, bank account and mutual funds, according to the FIR.

The entire night he was put under surveillance on video call and was allegedly told he was being produced in court through video conferencing and was allegedly forced to transfer the amount, the complaint said. Under pressure, he transferred Rs 59 lakh in two transactions, it added.

Later, as he grew suspicious, he approached police and got a complaint registered on the cybercrime helpline following which a case was registered under Information Technology Act and other sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, police said.

"A case has been registered and we initiated the process to get the bank accounts frozen. A detailed investigation is underway and we are trying to track down the culprits by tracing the numbers through which the victim received video calls," police added.