Bengaluru techie loses Rs 11 crore to scammers posing as customs, ED officers

A man working in the tech industry lost Rs 11 crore to cyber fraudsters who swindled him by posing as customs and ED officials. The accused have been arrested by Bengaluru's Cyber Police and a further probe is still going on.

In Short

• Techie defrauded of Rs 11 crore in Bengaluru
• Fraudsters posed as officials from customs and ED
• Bengaluru Police arrests 3 accused, probe ongoing

A man working in the tech industry became the latest victim to a cyber scam and lost Rs 11 crore when fraudsters impersonating government officials called him and threatened to arrest him in a money laundering case. After the incident, three accused were arrested by the police.

According to the police, the accused came to know that the victim, Vijay Kumar, had a market investment worth Rs 50 lakhs that had grown to Rs 12 crores. They then posed as officials from the police, customs, and Enforcement Directorate (ED), issuing threats of arrest over alleged money laundering.

Kumar then shared personal details like his Aadhaar, PAN card, and KYC information to the accused, following which they managed to syphon funds into nine bank accounts over months, claiming it was part of government procedures to clear his name.

After receiving a complaint from the victim, a probe was launched by the Cyber Crime police and Rs 7.5 crore was traced to a single account in Allahabad.

The trail led the police to Surat, where they discovered that the money was used to purchase gold by one of the accused, Dhaval Shah.

The investigation revealed Shah acted on instructions from a Dubai-based fraudster, earning a Rs1.5 crore commission for arranging the purchase. The gold was handed over to an unidentified person, referred to as "Neel Bhai."

In the police action, three accused, Tarun Natani, Karan, and Dhaval Shah, have been arrested till now and further investion is going on under relevant sections of the IT Act and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).