Vadodara: A 59-year-old businessman and his mother were allegedly duped using the ‘digital arrest’ modus operandi and tricked them transferring Rs 1.53 crore to cybercriminals. Devendra Dimri, a resident of Old Padra Road, lodged a complaint of cheating at Cyber Crime police station.Dimri stated that the offence began on July 31 when his mother, Shakuntala, got a call from a person claiming to be a State Bank of India (SBI) official. The caller told her that a transaction of Rs 1 lakh had been made using a credit card taken by her husband in Mumbai. Dimri then spoke to the caller and said his father did not have a credit card.Dimri soon received a video call from a man who identified himself as Sunil Kumar, a sub-inspector with the Mumbai Cybercrime police. The caller, who was in police uniform, asked Dimri for his and his father’s Aadhaar card details. He then claimed that a money-laundering case had been registered against Dimri.The fraudster sent Dimri a forged CBI letter and claimed that his assets would be scrutinised. He threatened to arrest Dimri and demanded details of his investments, including mutual funds, bank accounts, fixed deposits and properties. He was also directed him not to disconnect the video call and to call back immediately if it got disconnected.The video call continued throughout Aug 1. The accused also asked Dimri to provide details of all the calls he received.On Aug 3 and 12, Dimri received further video calls and was sent forged Reserve Bank of India (RBI) letters directing him to transfer his money to bank accounts provided by the accused. He was also instructed to visit his bank, fill out a form and send a photograph of it to the fraudsters.Following the instructions, Dimri transferred Rs 1.53 crore to the accused. The fraudsters then sought details of his properties. When Dimri told them that his house was in his mother’s name, they allegedly asked him to take a loan against it. Banks refused to provide the loan.The accused kept calling Dimri until Aug 18. Meanwhile, a friend of Dimri’s father learned about the video calls and alerted the family that they were being defrauded. Dimri then called the cybercrime helpline at 1930 and lodged a complaint.
