RETIRED TEACHER SWINDLED OF Rs. 30 LAKH

RETIRED TEACHER SWINDLED OF Rs. 30 LAKH

12-OCT-ENG 1

RAJIV NAYAN AGRAWAL

PATNA--------------------------Cybercriminals swindled ₹30 lakh from a retired teacher residing at Saguna More (under the Danapur police station area) after keeping him under "digital arrest" for 15 days by threatening legal action in the name of the Delhi Police, CBI, and the courts.

The criminals threatened to implicate the teacher in an alleged money laundering transaction worth ₹6.80 crore, claiming that a non-bailable warrant had been issued against him and that he would be arrested and jailed.

By exerting constant mental pressure, they coerced him into breaking his fixed deposits (FDs) and transferring the funds to accounts specified by them. The teacher grew suspicious only when they later asked him to take out a loan by pledging his gold.

After consulting his nephew, he lodged an FIR at the Patna Cyber ​​Police Station. The police are investigating the matter. The victim is a retired teacher from Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya and currently teaches on a contractual basis at a residential school in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh. According to him, he received a call from a woman on WhatsApp on September 20.

The woman claimed that a SIM card had been issued against his Aadhaar card and, consequently, the mobile number he was currently using had to be deactivated.

When the teacher asked for the reason, the woman mentioned that a complaint had been filed against him at the Barakhamba police station in Delhi and even provided a complaint number. Subsequently, he was allegedly connected to the Delhi Police.

An individual dressed in a police uniform asked for the complaint number during a video call and then connected him to another person under the pretext of linking him to headquarters. There, the teacher was informed that a non-bailable warrant had been issued against him, and that the warrant contained his name, address, and Aadhaar card details. Cybercriminals accused the teacher of involvement in money laundering, alleging that ₹6.80 crore had been deposited into an account opened in his name from abroad.

To gain his trust, they showed him a purported passbook from a bank branch in Delhi's Chandni Chowk, which displayed the teacher's photograph, name, and address. Subsequently, they connected him with an individual posing as a senior police officer.

This officer instructed him to submit an application addressed to Pradeep Kumar Singh—purportedly a CBI team leader—to facilitate the online investigation process.

The accused claimed that an individual named Sudeep Kumar had been arrested and found in possession of 180 passbooks. Citing this individual, they alleged that the teacher had provided the account in exchange for ₹2 lakh and a commission of 10% of the laundered amount—totaling ₹68 lakh.

According to the teacher, the accused provided specific details regarding his bank accounts, the respective branches, and the balances held in them. This led him to believe that government agencies were indeed conducting an investigation.

The fraudsters claimed the presence of a Reserve Bank of India representative and displayed a copy of an order purportedly issued by the Delhi Sessions Court. To instill fear of arrest, they also showed images or visuals of five handcuffed individuals.

Under constant mental pressure, the teacher traveled from Moradabad to Patna and liquidated a fixed deposit (FD) he held as a senior citizen. Following the accused's instructions, he transferred ₹30 lakh to the specified account.

He was directed to transfer the funds via ICICI Bank. The accused assured him that the entire amount would be refunded within 24 hours once the investigation cleared him of wrongdoing.

Two days after the transfer, the accused asked the teacher to either take a loan against gold deposited in a bank or melt the gold and send proof verifying its authenticity.

This demand aroused his suspicion that he was being targeted by cyber fraudsters. Subsequently, he narrated the entire incident to his nephew, who works at the State Bank of India. After understanding the conversation and the sequence of events, the nephew identified it as a plot by cybercriminals. Realizing he had been defrauded, the teacher lodged an FIR at the Patna Cyber ​​Police Station. The police are now investigating the matter.