Ernakulam native duped of Rs 29 lakh by fraudsters posing as CBI officers

KOCHI: A native of Ernakulam lost Rs 29 lakh rupees after fraudster posed as CBI officers. The fraudsters claimed they are from the CBI's Mumbai unit and threatened to arrested him as per a Supreme Court order. On the morning of February 22, the first call of the fraudsters came to the phone of the said Ernakulam native. Addressing themselves as Mumbai Police, they informed that during the investigation of the financial fraud case related to Jet Airways, it was found that an account was opened in a private bank using the complainant's Aadhaar and it was found that a huge amount of money had been deposited and the CBI will be called for investigation. Soon after, a call from fake CBI officials came through Skype.

The person was then asked to deposit a certain amount in a private bank and he was made to believe that the amount will be returned after verifying the transaction. They threatened to arrest him as per the Supreme Court order if he did not cooperate with the action. With this, the complainant paid Rs 29 lakhs to the account provided by the fraudsters. Then until February 27, the fraudsters kept threatening the complainant with various reasons. When he realized that it was a fraud, he approached the police. Earlier, a doctor from Ernakulam was duped of Rs 41 lakh by a person pretending to be a customs officer.

Investigation focused on fraudsters' accounts
The investigation is focused on the bank accounts handed over by the fraudsters in the complaint. Seven people, including those from Kochi, were arrested in for cheating by posing as customs officials. It is believed that the Malayalis also have a role in this fraud.

First case of drugs through courier
The fraudsters posing as customs officers claimed that they found 200 grams of MDMA and five passports in a courier from Taiwan in the name of a doctor. It was also informed that verification of bank accounts is required. They called again posing as Reserve Bank officials and informed that the money should be transferred to a separate account and it would be returned after 15 minutes. Then Rs 41 lakhs was transferred in various installments.