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'Made me write to Supreme Court': How NRI couple lost ₹14 crore to 16-day digital arrest scam
Fraudsters used an elaborative ruse, from fake officer video calls to fabricated allegations of multiple complaints linked to the woman’s phone number.
An elderly couple in New Delhi was made to stay confined inside their home after being convinced of being probed in a money laundering case. Little did they know that they were being defrauded under a "digital arrest" scam and before they realised what was happening, they were out of nearly ₹14 crore.
Fraudsters used an elaborative ruse to keep the couple trapped digitally. From have a fake officer make a video call to allegations of there being multiple complaints against the woman's phone number being used for illegal activities, the accused used everything possible to dupe the couple out of crores.
The couple, identified as 81-year-old Om Taneja and 77-year-old Indira Taneja, both doctors, who returned to India from the US in 2015, reside in Delhi's Greater Kailash II.
A phone call, then a 16-day 'arrest'
The ordeal began on Christmas eve, December 24, as Indira received a phone call from people posing as officials of the Telecom Regulatory Authority. She was told that there was multiple complaints against her phone number as it was used to send obscene text messages, and was involved in illegal activities.
"I was shocked. They said my husband and I would be arrested. My husband recently had a surgery and his health is supervised by AIIMS doctors. I got very scared,” Indira told HT. She also said that the accused told them they were linked to a money laundering probe.
Also Read: ‘Was scared, shocked': NRI couple in Delhi loses ₹14 crore to digital arrest scam
The woman was also contacted by one 'Vikrant Singh Rajput', who identified himself as an officer and told her that she had an account in one of Canara Bank's Mumbai branches. "I told them it was not possible as I only had joint accounts with my husband and did not have an account in Mumbai. The fraudsters said our case was linked to the Naresh Goyal money laundering case,” Indira claimed.
Calls surveillance, letters to Supreme Court
Indira said that the fraudsters repeatedly said that the matter of "national security" and over the next 16 days, kept them under "digital arrest". During this period, the accused kept a close watch on the couple's phone calls and messages.
Indira also said that she was made to write letters to the Supreme Court and other agencies and she and her husband were asked to refrain from talking to anyone. "My friends, lawyers, relatives kept calling me from Christmas till New Year, but we were not allowed to talk," the woman said, adding that the couple was rarely allowed to contact their children in the US and even those conversations were monitored.
She also shared an instance where the accused got furious when her driver showed up at the house with some X-ray reports. "They said we could not have anyone in the house or there could be serious consequences,” the woman added.
The NRI couple ended up losing nearly ₹14 crore to the digital arrest scam, with eight transactions made to seven accounts belonging to the accused, police said. The suspects are yet to be identified and a case has been registered with the Special Cell.
(With inputs from HT correspondent)
