Naresh Goyal, RBI, Supreme Court: The stories Digital Arrest fraudsters used to cheat Salem man

CHENNAI: A high-profile money laundering case involving Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal, an arrest warrant issued by the Supreme Court itself, and documents from the Reserve Bank of India. These were enough to leave the person in Salem scared and shaking – enough to agree to pay up Rs one crore as ‘verification charges’ to the person who called him.

It took a while for the person to know it was scam, a popular one known as ‘digital arrest’. Based on his complaint, a team of cybercrime sleuths from Tamil Nadu went to Rajasthan and Chandigarh to arrest two key people who allegedly played a key role in the network, and operated ‘mule accounts’.

According to the police, Pardeep Singh (24) from Rajasthan and Yashdeep Singh (24) from Chandigarh opened multiple bank accounts. For each account, they received Rs one lakh. Officials said the police retrieved Rs 23,25,433.49 from the bank account of the accused.

While the two have been remanded in custody, the hunt is on for the main accused.

In the digital arrest scam, fraudsters posing as an official from the Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRAI) would call unsuspecting persons claiming that she/he is found to be involved in a money laundering case. The receiver’s phone number would be suspended while the investigation is on, they would claim, and then demand payment to avoid criminal proceedings.

The modus operandi followed the same script in this case, where the victim received a call from a person pretending to be a TRAI representative. He was informed that his phone connection would be suspended and legal action would be taken against him for being involved in a money laundering case.

The victim was then instructed to contact a "CBI officer" through WhatsApp video call to avoid legal action. During the video call, a person wearing police uniform informed him that he was under ‘digital custody’ and instructed the victim to isolate self.

The imposter then paraded several documents, including an ‘arrest warrant issued by the Supreme Court’ and documents from the RBI, and said these showed that the victim was implicated in a money laundering case involving Naresh Goyal, the founder of Jet Airways.

Then came the coercion couched as an offer: deposit money into a specific bank account to prove innocence. The money would be returned, the victim was told. Ostensibly worried about the consequences of being implicated in such a big case, the victim transferred Rs one crore as "verification charges".

Later, after realising that it was a scam, the victim lodged an online complaint through the National Cyber Crime Reporting portal.

Based on this, an FIR was registered at Cyber Crime Wing Headquarters - State Cyber Crime Investigation Centre (SCCIC) in Chennai.

A special team that investigated the case found that the bank account to which the money was transferred belonged to D&D Enterprises, a company registered in the name of Pardeep Singh (24) from Rajasthan, who was found to be located in Chandigarh.

The special team headed by an inspector from the Cyber Crime Wing rushed to Chandigarh and conducted joint raid with Cyber Crime Police, Chandigarh. They arrested Pardeep and also Yashdeep Singh (24), allegedly an associate of the mule account gang kingpin.

The police said that their investigation revealed that based on the instruction given by the kingpin, Pardeep and Yashdeep opened mule accounts. Officials said Pardeep opened seven bank accounts and obtained seven SIM cards in the name of D&D Enterprises, while Yashdeep opened more than 20 bank accounts and SIM cards in the name of YDS Logistics.

These were in turn provided to the main accused in exchange for a commission of Rs 1 Lakh per account. The investigation to trace the primary accused is ongoing, officials added.