Mumbai: Matunga senior citizen duped of Rs 4.82 cr in fake online court scam

In a cybercrime case straight out of a Bollywood thriller, fraudsters “digitally arrested” a 71-year-old woman from Matunga, staged a fake online court trial, and extorted Rs 4.82 crore from her after falsely declaring her guilty in a fabricated case. According to police sources, the Central Cyber Police arrested two men in connection with the case—Bapi Das, 53, and Saurish Nag, 41—both residents of Kolkata.

They are allegedly part of a cyber fraud gang that provided bank accounts to transfer defrauded money. During the investigation, it was revealed that R30 lakh was transferred to Das’s account and Rs 25 lakh to Nag’s. The victim, a senior citizen, first received a call in December from an unknown number regarding a mobile recharge. Two days later, she got another call instructing her to press “9” to speak to a customer care representative. Trusting the caller, she complied.

Scammers told senior citizen to appear for an online court hearing. Representation pic/istock

The caller, posing as a TRAI official, claimed her number was linked to illegal activity and involved in a scam worth R6.8 crore. When she refused to share her bank details, another person called days later, pretending to be a customs officer investigating the case.

The fraudsters told her an online court hearing was underway and asked her to wear white clothes for a video appearance. Terrified, she complied, and saw a courtroom setup—with a fake judge in uniform, orderlies, and individuals posing as lawyers and officers.

During the fake trial, the woman was falsely sentenced. In a state of panic, she later received calls offering to “get her out” of the sentence—for a price. Over the next few weeks, she liquidated her deposits and mutual funds, transferring R4.82 crore to various accounts given by the scammers. When the scammers continued to demand more money, the woman recalled recent media reports about cyber frauds and realised she had been cheated. She called the 1930 cyber helpline and filed a complaint. A case was registered with the Central Cyber Police, an officer said.

Following the FIR, Senior Inspector Mousami Patil and her team at the Central Cyber Police launched an investigation and obtained details of the accused. Meanwhile, the South Cyber Police—investigating a separate Rs 20.26 crore cyber fraud case—traced 14 beneficiary accounts. They arrested eight people, including Das and Nag, and issued summons to six others.

Senior Inspector Patil said, “The South Cyber Police had apprehended Das and Nag during their investigation. In our probe, we found that R30 lakh and R25 lakh from our victim’s defrauded amount had gone to their accounts. Based on their findings, we arrested the duo in our case.”

Speaking to mid-day, Senior Inspector Nandkumar Gopale of the South Cyber Police said, “We have traced 14 accused across multiple states and arrested eight, including Das and Nag. Of the R20.26 crore defrauded in our case, R50 lakh was transferred to Das’s account and R1.38 crore to Nag’s.”