Digital scamsters use fake 'judge' to dupe retiree of Rs 33.7 lakh in Bengaluru

Bengaluru: Moving away from dummy police stations, digital-scam fraudsters faked a virtual courtroom, complete with a "serious-looking" magistrate, to extort Rs 33.7 lakh from a retiree in Bengaluru, police said. 

So convincing was the set-up that the victim totally went blank and did not suspect anything until he discussed the incident with his family after the WhatsApp video call ended. 

"I lost all retirement savings. The court they had created looked real, and the magistrate spoke about legal procedures, so I could not become suspicious," the Subramanya Nagar resident told DH. 

The "magistrate" initially demanded Rs 20 lakh to grant immediate bail but the victim said he had exhausted his bank account. "I later transferred Rs 10 lakh from my wife’s bank account to get off the hook," he stated. 

It all began on October 15 when Bhaskar Rao (name changed), a 76-year-old retired private employee, received a phone call from a man claiming to be from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). 

The caller connected him to another person, who identified himself as Jaiprabhakar Choudhary, a senior officer with the Enforcement Directorate (ED), and accused Rao of money laundering. 

The fraudsters went on to place him "under surveillance" for 14 days and threatened to arrest him if he didn't cooperate. 

Later, he was connected via video call to one Samadhan Pawar, who claimed to be an IPS officer and an additional director in the ED. 

Pawar alleged that a case had been filed against Rao by Naresh Goyal, the managing director of a private airline, and showed him a "digital court notice" that looked genuine. 

The fraudsters convinced Rao that his bank accounts needed verification by the Reserve Bank of India and asked him to transfer his funds to designated accounts, assuring a refund within 72 hours. Fearing arrest, Rao transferred Rs 23.7 lakh as instructed. 

They later created a fake virtual courtroom where Rao appeared before a man posing as a magistrate. The impostor granted him "bail" and demanded Rs 10 lakh as "court fees" on October 29. Rao complied, only to realise later that he had been cheated of Rs 33.7 lakh in total. 

Based on Rao's complaint, the North Cybercrime police have opened a case and launched an investigation to trace the conmen.