Elderly Ahmedabad Resident Duped of Rs 1.26 Cr by International Scammers Amidst Rising Online Trading Scams and Menace of Ponzi Schemes in NE

The Ahmedabad cyber crime branch has arrested four residents for aiding the crime, police confirmed on Wednesday.

At a time when Nagaland and Assam are grappling with online trading scams and the menace of Ponzi Schemes, a senior citizen in Gujrat’s Ahmedabad was defrauded of Rs 1.26 crore by Cambodia-based fraudsters.

The fraudsters who scammed the man posed as a CBI officer and the Chief Justice of India. The Ahmedabad cyber crime branch has arrested four residents for aiding the crime, police confirmed on Wednesday.

The fraudsters put the victim under a so-called “digital arrest,” a form of cybercrime where victims are convinced they are under investigation for crimes like money laundering or drug smuggling. The victims are then forced to transfer large sums of money to avoid legal consequences. According to Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Hardik Makadia, the arrested men, Mohammad Hussain Javid, Tarunsinh Vaghela, Brijesh Parekh, and Shubham Thakar, all residents of Ahmedabad, allowed their bank accounts to be used to facilitate the scam.

This began earlier this month when an unidentified individual, claiming to be an IPS officer working with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), made a video call to the senior citizen. The fraudster told the victim that his bank account had been implicated in money laundering activities. The victim was then told that he might face a five-year prison sentence but could avoid jail due to his age if he cooperated through video calls.

To intensify the scam, another gang member posed as the Chief Justice of India (CJI), using the photo of the current CJI as his display picture during a video call. This impersonator claimed the victim’s case was being heard by the Supreme Court and that he would need to undergo interrogation online. The fraudsters pressured the victim to transfer Rs 1.26 crore into their accounts to “prove” that his funds were not linked to any illegal activities.

“They kept the victim under constant surveillance through video calls and even coerced him into breaking his fixed deposits to transfer the money,” said ACP Makadia. The scammers promised the victim that his money would be refunded within 48 hours and even sent him a fake certificate of receipt, complete with the Supreme Court seal and a signature from a supposed CBI officer.

Eventually, the victim realised he had been tricked and approached the Ahmedabad cyber crime branch, which registered a First Information Report (FIR) on October 7. The police investigation revealed that the calls had originated from Cambodia, and the money had been transferred to three “dummy” bank accounts in Ahmedabad, receiving Rs 10 lakh each. These accounts were then linked to the four local accomplices who converted the stolen funds into cryptocurrency.

Among those arrested, Shubham Thakar had been previously apprehended by Haryana Police in a separate cyber fraud case. ACP Makadia confirmed that two more individuals connected to the scam are still at large. The investigation is ongoing, with efforts focused on tracing the remaining suspects and recovering the stolen funds.

This case highlights the growing threat of sophisticated cybercrimes like digital arrest, where victims are tricked into believing they are under legal scrutiny, only to be defrauded by criminals posing as authoritative figures.

Authorities are urging citizens to be vigilant and to report suspicious activities to prevent falling prey to such scams. As the scams are increasing in Assam too, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has officially taken over the probe of 41 cases of online stock trading scams registered across the state.

Also read: Is Ponzi Schemes and Online Trading Scams Spilling Over to Nagaland from Assam?

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