How scammers duped Muzaffarpur businessman of Rs 89.90 lakh

Scammers defrauded a Muzaffarpur businessman of Rs 89.90 lakh after he fell for a cyber scam in which he received a call from an unknown number posing as a Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) official.

The fake official claimed that the victim's phone number will be disconnected due to suspicious activity, alleging his involvement in a money laundering case .

How scammers fooled the businessman
According to the FIR, the caller told the victim that there is another mobile number active and his Aadhaar number had been given in the documentation. The caller said this number had been used to send illegal messages.

The business was told that an FIR had been lodged in Tilak Nagar Police Station in Mumbai and the victim had to appear before the officers. The call was then transferred to another number and a person wearing a police uniform interacted with the businessman via a video call.

That man in the police uniform claimed to be an officer of the Tilak Nagar Police Station and he took the victim’s statement.

“He also informed him that a bank account had been opened in Canara Bank using his Aadhaar number and that account was used in the money laundering case of one Naresh Goyal with illegal transactions to the tune of Rs 2.5 crore,” said Seema Devi, DSP of cyber cell Muzaffarpur.

“He further informed the victim that an arrest warrant had been issued by the Supreme Court and asked him to appear at the Tilak Nagar Police Station. When the victim expressed his inability to reach Mumbai on such a short notice, the caller asked him to upload the details of the source of his earnings on the website of the Supreme Court. That caller also gave him a link http://www.main-scoi.in/,” the officer said.

“When the victim opened the link, an arrest warrant was shown in his name. Hence, he uploaded his bank details on that website. Soon after, the cyber conmen withdrew Rs 89.90 lakh from his account. The victim lodged an FIR on July 24 and we are investigating the matter,” she said.

The incident occurred on July 24, and the Muzaffarpur cyber police are currently investigating the case.