MP: Ashram secretary loses Rs 2.5 crore in cyber fraud in Gwalior

Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh) [India], April 17 (ANI): A secretary of Ramakrishna Mission Ashram, located in Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior district, fell victim to a cyber fraud and lost Rs 2.5 crores, a police official said.
The cybercriminals called the victim over WhatsApp, impersonating Nashik police on March 17 and continued talking to him for around 20 days. The fraudsters made transactions of the amount to different accounts in between, he added.
Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Niranjan Sharma told ANI, "An application in relation to an online fraud has been received. A secretary of Ramakrishna Mission Ashram, located in Thatipur in the district, has submitted the application. He received a video call on WhatsApp in the name of Nashik police. They told him that his name was linked to a money laundering account, and the transactions were made in the ED. He (Ramakrishna Mission secretary) said that he did not make any such transaction. The cyber frauds then asked him for his Aadhaar card and bank account details in the name of verification. After that they sent a copy of the account to the victim and they told him that a summons had been issued and he would be arrested."
The cybercriminals continuously made calls to him as part of their modus operandi of committing frauds and they also assured the victim if he cooperated with them, then they would help him out, the ASP explained.
"The fraudsters asked him to deposit the bail amount which will be refunded after three days. Thereafter, they made him transfer around Rs 2.5 crores to different accounts. Based on the complaint, a case has been registered under various sections and an investigation is underway," the officer said.
Further action will be taken based on the facts revealed in the probe and efforts will be made to nab the accused, he added.
ASP Sharma further said, "The victim received the call for the first time on March 17 and the fraudsters kept talking with him for around 20 days and transactions were done in that period. This case will be considered as cyber fraud as in a digital arrest case, one made hostage at one place. But in this case, the victim did not face such a situation." (ANI)