Fraudsters use AI to cheat woman of Rs 35 lakh, Delhi Police arrests 4 accused

The accused, posing as CBI officials, fraudulently portrayed 'digital arrest' to blackmail and extort money from the victim, police said.

The police advised people to not believe random callers and verify through credible sources the legitimacy of anyone claiming to be an official of government agencies such as the CBI or high-ranked police officials.

It is crucial to not disclose personal details, including AADHAR Card, Bank OTPs, PAN details, etc., to unknown callers.

Revealing the modus operandi of the gang, Deputy Commissioner of Delhi Police (IFSO Unit) Hemant Tiwari said the accused would contact victims by initially posing as employees of courier companies, claiming that Mumbai Customs seized a parcel in their name carrying MDMA narcotics drugs.

Then they make a video call, posing as CBI Officials and even show a fake CBI office premises over the call.

The victim is threatened and the fraudsters blackmail and extort money from them, the officer said at a press conference here.

Sharing details of the case, Tiwari said a woman, named Anjana Chakravarty, lodged a complaint that she received a call from DHL Express/FedEx, a courier company, telling her that a parcel she sent to Cambodia had been seized by Mumbai Customs.

She was told that the parcel contained 20 passports, 3 credit cards, 1 laptop, 4.5 kg of clothes, and 150 grams of MDMA (a narcotic drug).

Following this, the caller connected her to another person through a WhatsApp video call using the number 9080533449 and the second person introduced himself as a CBI officer.

When Anjana Chakravarty insisted on confirming whether he was a real CBI officer, he momentarily showed her a cabin with the CBI logo, where one police officer was standing and another was sitting.

This act convinced her that he was a genuine CBI officer and subsequently the fraudsters succeeded in defrauding her of Rs. 35 lakh, the police said.

Following the complaint at IFSO, a police team was formed and the investigation was carried out, the DCP said.

"Based on technical surveillance, the team conducted raids in different parts of Delhi and NCR and arrested four accused persons and recovered relevant articles,” he said.

The accused have been identified as Khushbu Khan, a graduate from West Bengal, Choudhoury Sanjay Kr. Das from Nangloi, Asif Khan from Noida and Abhay Singh from Lucknow, he said.

During the interrogation, it was discovered that the accused individuals are part of a gang led by Khushbu Khan.

She is responsible for arranging fake SIM cards and setting up multiple bank accounts using forged names, addresses, and government photo IDs, Tiwari said.

The accused used several fake accounts to siphon off the cheated amount and further transfer the money to foreign country-based fraudsters through USDT, he said.

The police recovered a car, eight mobile phones, one laptop, four bank cheque books, a company agreement and four debit cards.

(With UNI inputs)