Elderly doctor from Pune defrauded of Rs 28 lakh through intimidation involving threats of Supreme Court and Enforcement Directorate notices

Elderly doctor from Pune defrauded of Rs 28 lakh through intimidation involving threats of Supreme Court and Enforcement Directorate notices.
A 76-year-old physician from Pimpri Chinchwad reportedly fell victim to cyber criminals who scammed him out of Rs 28 lakh.
A 76-year-old doctor from Pimpri Chinchwad has reportedly been targeted by cybercriminals, losing Rs 28 lakh in the process. One of the scammers posed as a CBI officer and intimidated him with threats of arrest related to a credit card fraud case.
On November 28, while attending to patients, he received a WhatsApp call from someone claiming to be a ‘CBI officer’ named Ravi Kumar. The caller cautioned the doctor that he was being monitored and was effectively in a state of “digital arrest.”
“The caller told him that if the he did not pay Rs 20 lakh, an arrest warrant will be issued against him. Though the complainant denied any involvement in any such case, he was told that two notices — one from the Supreme Court and another from ED — had been issued against him. The fraudster posing as a CBI officer told him that since he was a senior citizen and a doctor, senior lawyers of the Supreme Court will help and he will have to take actions as instructed,” says the police.
The scammers informed him that both the Supreme Court and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had issued notices targeting him.
The caller reported that the doctor’s name was implicated in a credit card fraud case, having received a commission of Rs 20 lakh on a transaction amounting to Rs 1 crore.
A ‘CBI officer’ subsequently transferred the call to a scammer impersonating a ‘Supreme Court lawyer,’ who requested the complainant’s financial and personal information under the guise of needing details about his case, according to the police.
He stated that when the victim refused to admit any participation in illegal activities, the individual sent messages from the ‘Supreme Court’ and ‘Enforcement Directorate’ (ED) to the victim’s mobile messaging app. The individual then assured the victim that he could assist in resolving the case and preventing arrest, demanding Rs20 lakh in return.
“The next day he again received a call and was asked to deposit Rs 28 lakh to particular accounts saying it was for clearing his name from the case. The complainant was instructed to go to the bank keeping his phone on and then transfer Rs 28 lakh to two separate accounts. The complainant did so as instructed and told the caller he had made the transfer,” adds the police.